The Angel of Obelisk Blue
by Cheeky-Fairywitch
Summary: Erika Dark is an ordinary 15-year-old duellist looking forward to joining Duel Academy - a well known private school made to train duellists to their extrme potential. The first step is getting in. How will Erika rank amongst the best? No 'flames'
1. The Face Off

**The Angel of Obelisk Blue**

**Chapter 1:**

"I activate the spell card – Overload Fusion. I remove from my graveyard, from play, my Cyber Dragon, Cyber Phoenix, two Proto-Cyber Dragons, Machine King Prototype, two Cyber Kirins, Gadget Soldier, Cyber Laser Dragon and Cyber Barrier Dragon to fusion summon Chimeratech Overdragon," I declared as I removed all the cards I had said from play. I placed a purple card on my duel disk in attack mode.

A dragon looking creature arose from nowhere. It appeared to be made from metal. It had six heads and a long tail with two sharp spikes at the end. It had no arms, legs or wings like a normal dragon does but the six heads looked dragonish.

The teacher gasped as he gazed up at my machine monster. I glanced around and saw that a crowd had formed around the area where we were duelling.

"Although Chimeratech Overdragon's ability means that I have to discard every card on my side of the field, it also has another ability that makes its original attack eight-hundred times the number of monsters I used to fuse it – that's ten monsters. This brings Chimeratech Overdragon's attack up to eight-thousand." I stated.

"Eight-thousand attack!?" I heard a duellist from the side lines say. "That's amazing!"

"Now, so there's no chance you can destroy my monster, I activate the spell card Giant Trunade," I declared as I placed a spell card in the spell card slot in my duel disk. "It sweeps your spell and trap cards off the field and back to your hand."

The teacher removed his cards from his duel disk and put them into his hand. He gave me a smile. "You're a very good duellist, Miss Dark."

"Thank you," I smiled. "Now I go to attack. Another of Chimeratech Overdragon's abilities allow it to attack as many of your monsters for how many monsters I used in its fusion but it doesn't matter – Chimeratech Overdragon has enough attack points to destroy your only monster and the rest of your life points. Go, Chimeratech Overdragon! Attack his monster!"

Chimeratech Overdragon launched an attack at the teacher's only monster. The monster was obliterated and my opponent's life points were depleted.

"Congratulations Miss Dark," the teacher declared, as he walked over to shake my hand. "You have been accepted into Duel Academy. Please wait for the other duels to finish for details."

I smiled and accepted his handshake. "Thank you! It was a pleasure duelling you!"

He smiled back and walked away. I left the arena to see a crowd of duellists waiting, all seemed eager with questions.

"How'd you do that?" One asked.

"That was such an awesome duel!" Another stated.

"I can't believe you wiped out that teachers life points and yet had none of yours depleted!" Another said.

I smiled. "It was because I was able to draw the right cards at the right time!"

"I was wondering why you kept using cards like Card Destruction to destroy your own hand and letting him destroy your monsters in defence position," another had said.

"Shouldn't you all be duelling?" I asked.

"Oh, we just scraped in for a win," one boy said. "We still got in because we have talent – I just got the wrong cards. That's what the teacher told me."

"I bet you're gonna get straight into Obelisk Blue!" A girl said. "I can't believe you defeated an Obelisk Blue teacher."

"I can't either," I said with a smile. "Now I'm gonna get going and watch some other matches. I'll see you all later."

As I walked off I heard them mutter things like 'she's so pretty!', 'I wish I had nice curly brown hair like hers!' and 'I wonder, if I become a good duellist, would she want to be my girlfriend?' The last comment was followed by a lot of nos.

As I walked around the arena, a particular duel caught my eye. A girl with sandy blonde hair was up against an Obelisk Blue teacher. She looked like she was just about to win.

"Cyber Blader, attack his monster now," she declared.

The majestic woman went and launched her attack towards the opponent's monster. Their life points reached zero and the girl was declared the winner.

She looked towards me. I clapped a little and smiled, which I think made her blush a little. She approached me.

"Nice duel there," I said. "Wish I was here to see most of it."

She laughed a little. "Why's that?"

"Oh I just finished my duelling exam too. I was just looking at the duels when I spotted yours. It looked exciting but it was nearly over when I came."

"Oh okay. How'd your exam go?"

"Well I defeated my opponent. I couldn't believe the teacher I faced was of Obelisk Blue!"

She gasped. "That must've been some duel!"

I sighed. "It was kind of quick actually. I was a little disappointed....But I had fun, that's the main thing."

She smiled and offered a handshake. "I'm Alexis Rhodes." She said, introducing herself.

"I'm Erika Dark," I told her, accepting the handshake.

"You seem really cool," she told me. "I hope we both get put in the same dorm!"

I smiled. "Thanks for that! I definitely hope so too!"

Alexis smiled back. "I'll see you later then Erika."

"Bye!" I said happily as she walked off. At least I already have one friend at the academy.... Well, besides the new group of fans.....

It felt like I was waiting forever when all of the duels came to an end.

"It's about time!" I sighed.

"I heard someone laugh. "I think I'll have to agree with that."

I turned around and saw Alexis standing behind me to the left. I smiled. "Hiya Alexis!"

"Hi!" She replied. "Have you checked out any other duels?"

"A few," I replied. "I was bugged by a group of duellists who watched my duel though."

She laughed. "You have fans?"

I giggled. "I guess... But I don't mind them. They're rather cool!"

"I guess we already know who miss popular will be at the academy then!" She joked.

I laughed. "Uh..... No."

A teacher came and announced that he would hand out everyone a sheet of paper with details on when a plane would take us to Duel Academy.

"You all will be told which dorm you are placed in when you arrive at Duel Academy," he said. "There you will get your uniform and other school supplies."

"I wonder what dorm I'll be in." I thought out loud.

"Now can I have your full attention once again," the teacher asked. The whispers came to a stop. "Now we head out to Duel Academy in seven days from today on a plane. It will leave at Domino airport and we want you to be there before five in the morning. Pack whatever you will need for the entire year as you will not be returning home until summer break and then at the end of the year.

"You are not allowed to bring alcohol, drugs or any sharp or flammable objects. If any student is caught with any item of such, they will be expelled and sent straight home.

"Hope we will see you all in seven days time," the teacher continued.


	2. Shop Till You Drop

**Chapter 2:**

"So, how'd the exam go?"

I thought I should play a little joke on my mum. She knew I was a good duellist but I wonder if she'd believe what I'd tell her.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said calmly, sitting on the couch opposite my mother.

I had taken drama lessons since I was little so I knew how to make something believable. I looked away from her and just stared at the off TV.

"Erika! We spent all that money on you and you're duelling for nothing?" My mother asked. She seemed to have an angry tone in her voice but remained calm. "You did dancing lessons, singing lessons and drama lessons and you decided to choose duelling over all of these?"

I giggled a little and turned to look at my mother. Her long, curly hair looked perfect. Her blue eyes seemed to have a tinge of anger in them.

"Mum! I'm kidding!" I said. "I got in!"

I saw a sigh of relief on her face. "Thank goodness Erika!" She sighed. "That's fantastic!"

"Yeah I know," I told her. "I don't know what dorm I'll be placed in though."

I heard a laugh. "Probably not Obelisk Blue!"

I looked in the direction of the voice. A young man with messy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes leaned against the wall. I glared at him.

"Shut up, Jake!" I joked. "You're such a nice big brother!"

He came up and gave me a hug. "Nah you probably will. Good going sis!"

My brother is such a weirdo! Jake's only two years older than me, making him seventeen, but he's so immature. However, he's the type that's good at everything. He goes through lots of girlfriends. He has a very random personality – he jokes around a lot but is a fun and loving guy.

"Jake, you're so weird," I said, pushing him away.

"So what dorm did you get into?" he asked.

"I don't know, we get told when we reach Duel Academy in a week."

His face looked blank. "Oh yeah, that's right..."

I laughed at him. "Well, all I know is that I defeated an Obelisk Blue teacher and lost no life points."

He moaned. I knew I had blown his over inflated ego. "You'll get into Obelisk Blue no doubt! I only got into Ra Yellow on my first year!"

"It's probably because my cyber deck is better than your samurai deck!" I said.

"You used your cyber deck?" He asked. "That's kind of unfair!"

"I want to give it my best so I can get the best marks," I told him. "I want to do my best. Sure it's great to work towards your goals but I'd like to get the best and then beat those who are better than me."

"Well watch out sis," Jake warned. "There's this guy there and he's undefeated. He has a cyber deck like yours too. He's a friend of mine."

I smiled. "Don't get worried about me, Jake. I can handle myself - even if he's a friend of yours."

"Well, you don't want to get your undefeated record shattered, Erika," he warned and headed towards the door. He looked back at me. "The second years and third years are more difficult to defeat than you freshmen – they have experience."

"Well I have that experience too," I replied. "Remember, when you came back each year, I studied your notes. Besides, you're a third year this year and I can still beat you!"

"Whatever sis," he said as he waved his hand and went out of the room.

"Well, I was thinking about getting Jake's uniform tomorrow," Mum said. "You can come with us."

I heard a moan from the other room. "Muuuum, I don't need more uniforms – it fits already!"

"Well, you're coming whether you like it or not, Jake," Mum said sternly.

Jake gave another moan while I giggled.

"Oh why do _**I**_ have to go shopping with you two?" Jake moaned when we entered the uniform shop. "You should've let me stay home with dad – he has a day off today."

"Well you have to try things on to see if they fit," Mum told him. "I don't want to come back because I got the wrong size. Plus your father has work! You can't trick me."

Jake laughed then gave a sigh. "Fine.... Bet you'll enjoy this Erika."

I honestly disliked shopping...Well, only if I was with my friends. If mum ever went shopping with me she'd pick random things from the rack and say 'oh this looks nice. Do you like it?' Besides, we were shopping for Jake, not me.

"No, not really," I said honestly. "I don't really like trying things on."

I'm sure Jake almost choked because he was coughing a lot. I just rolled my eyes.

We waited for Jake to get dressed. It was about ten minutes later when he finally came out of the changing rooms. He was wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform. It was white and hand blue rims. He wore a black turtle neck underneath and had formal dark blue pants. The shiny new black shoes

"Don't I just look handsome?" He asked, striking a pose as if he was a model. He popped up his collar.

"I think that goes down, Jake," Mum said as she flattened his collar.

"Mum! All the guys have their collars like this," Jake told her as he popped it back up. "It's the style."

"It suits you," I told him. "It looks nice."

Jake looked at me as if he had just been told the biggest lie ever. "Really?"

I smiled. "Yeah it does."

He gave me a hug. "Awww, you're so kind sis!"

I glared at him. "You just wrecked the moment."

"Stop fooling around you two," Mum said. "We need to try on your PE gear!"

After another thirty minutes of fooling around, Jake got mum to purchase five uniforms school and two PE uniforms for him. I knew she did this as she had a feeling that one or two would get wrecked – it would be safer to buy a bunch and sell them later than have little and all of them getting wrecked. It was for the whole year after all.

The next six days flew by fast. The next thing I knew my bags were packed and I was on my way with my parents to Domino airport.

Jake had left two days earlier. He had told me that, since he was a senior, he was going to leave earlier than me with the second years. I felt kind of sad that we wouldn't be on the same plane. He would probably be chatting to the girls or hanging out with some of his friends anyway.

My parents and I all got out of the car. Dad got my bag.

"What do you put in here Miss?" He asked. "Bricks?"

"Yes Dad," I joked.

I got my suitcase ready and pulled it so I could wheel it along. Once in the airport, I put my details on a card, wrapped it on my suitcase and handed it to the check in person so they could weigh it then board it on the plane. I put my small bag over my shoulder. It was my hand luggage so it was okay.

We said our goodbyes as I got my ticket and made my way through customs.


	3. Battle at Duel Academy

**Chapter 3:**

I was glad I had my passport. Mum, Dad, Jake and I travelled overseas two years ago when he was the top duellist in Duel Academy. It was a reward for Jake for getting such great grades all year round. As I looked through my passport, I saw the stamps still there from two years ago.

I went through customs. I have no idea but it always gave me the shivers. On the return flight home two years ago, I got pulled up for having a metal belt buckle. It was attached to my jeans so I couldn't take it off. I had to sign stuff but we were allowed to leave. Ever since then, I've been nervous about metal detectors.

I put my bag on the conveyor belt so it could be scanned. I walked through the metal detector nervously. It made no noise. I sighed in relief. The customs officer looked at me. I just gave him a smile as I picked up my bag from the conveyor belt.

"Thank you!" I said politely.

The one part I liked in the airport – Duty Free! Everything had no tax and was cheaper than in stores. Domino airport's duty free was huge! It had clothing stores, gaming stores and a lot of cafes and places to eat.

"Hey, Erika," I heard a voice.

I looked around and spotted Alexis. She approached me, along with two other girls.

"Hi Alexis," I said smiling. "When did you get here?"

"About ten minutes ago," she replied. "I'll introduce you to my new friends."

"Hey, I'm Jasmine," a girl said, interrupting Alexis' introduction. She had light brown hair with a spiky fringe. The hair reached her shoulders and was also spiky. She had bright brown eyes.

"And I'm Mindy," the other girl said, introducing herself. Her hair was a dark shade of grey, which wasn't from age. She wore it in a low ponytail that flared out where it was tied up. Her fringe was to her right side and her eyes matched the colour of her hair.

"Hi Jasmine, hi Mindy," I replied. "I'm Erika."

"It's nice to meet you, Erika," Mindy said happily.

I smiled. "Likewise."

"We should all go shopping," Jasmine suggested. "It's boring waiting for the plane to get ready."

I looked over at Alexis who sighed. "Yeah, okay."

I smiled. "It sounds fun."

We looked amongst the stores. It actually amazed me that Domino airport actually had clothes in its duty free section. Most duty free airports don't sell clothing.

All of us got something. Mindy got some cute shoes, Jasmine bought make-up, and Alexis got a pretty skirt while I bought a nice top. After we got our little gifts to ourselves, we went to board the plane to Duel Academy.

I looked at my plane ticket I had received as I walked down the corridor that led towards the plane.

"What ticket number did you get?" Alexis asked.

"C-7," I replied.

"I got C-6," Alexis said happily. "I guess we're sitting together."

"Yay," I said happily. I'm glad I'm sitting with Alexis on the trip.

I looked around. It seemed that everyone else who had boarded the plane was on their way to Duel Academy. I was guessing this was a one-year return trip.

According to our tickets, I got a window seat while Alexis got the aisle seat. We both were happy – I got to look at the view and Alexis got to talk to Jasmine and Mindy, who were in seats C-5 and C-4 on the other side of the aisle we were in. Sure I talked to them too but I couldn't help but think of the amazing sunrise that would appear when we were in the sky.

In just over an hour, we arrived at Duel Academy. Once we got off the plane, we went through a smaller version of customs, got our bags and went to the auditorium. There we got told which dorm we were in. It was revealed that I was placed in Obelisk Blue.

"Yay," I said happily. "What dorm did you get into Alexis?"

"What do you think?" Alexis asked. "Obelisk Blue of course!"

"What about you two?" I asked Jasmine and Mindy.

"We got into Obelisk Blue too!" Mindy said happily.

Jasmine put her arms around Alexis and me. "We're all in the same dorm together!"

A boy looked at the teacher who announced the results. He was also placed in Obelisk Blue. "Who got the top scores?" He asked.

"Well it wasn't you," the teacher replied. His friends around him all laughed. "The person who scored the top marks won without the loss of any life points."

"I wonder what duel that was," Alexis said. "Did you watch it Erika?"

I nodded. "I saw the whole thing."

Alexis gasped. "Do you mean that you're...?"

I nodded and gave her a smile.

We were then divided into six groups: Obelisk Blue girls, Obelisk Blue boys, Ra Yellow girls, Ra Yellow boys, Slifer Red girls and Slifer Red boys.

A teacher in a blue PE uniform approached us. She had her hair tied up and had a bit flowing down from the top of her parting along the side of her face. It was brown and the bit was zigzag in shape. She wore a whistle around her neck.

"Hello girls," she said. "I'm Miss Fontaine. I'm in charge of the girl's dorm rooms. You'll also take your PE classes with me." She then waved her arm, showing us to follow her. "If you all could follow me and I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Miss Fontaine took us on a little walk around the area. We arrived at a large lake where I was amazed by how there weren't any sand flies trying to bite me – or how there were no sand flies at all! Overlooking the lake was a huge blue mansion.

"This is the Obelisk Blue dorm," she said with a smile.

I was in absolute awe. I couldn't believe I was staying in a place that extravagant! Sure my family is wealthy but we don't live in a big house; there are only four of us.

The inside of the Obelisk Blue dorm was more extravagant than its exterior! I felt like I was in a fairytale! Why didn't Jake tell me that the Obelisk Blue dorm was so flash?

"This is where you girls stay," Miss Fontaine told us.

I gazed around. The place is huge! The foyer looked like it could be used as a ballroom. The floors were nicely polished and the windows were so large and clean. A beautiful water feature was placed in the centre of the area and two staircases, with red carpet, wound up to the upper level.

Miss Fontaine took us upstairs and showed us our rooms. I felt so lucky to find out that I was sharing a room with Alexis. She seemed pleased at the thought too.

"Don't take too long girls," Miss Fontaine told us just before we went off to our rooms. "We're coming back here so just leave your suitcases in the room – we still have the dining room to go. We'll be going with the boys to be shown around the school."

I was sure that Jasmine's and Mindy's faces lit up when Miss Fontaine said that.

Once we had dumped our bags in our rooms, Miss Fontaine led us to the dining room. "This is where you girls will have your meals." She said as we entered the dining room.

"So we're having a separate dining area to the boys?" I asked.

"Yes," Miss Fontaine said. "Otherwise there wouldn't be enough room if you all were in the one room."

It made sense. I just thought that it would've been cool to have breakfast and dinner with my brother like we used to before he got accepted into Duel Academy.

We waited for the group of first year boys to meet up with us so we could tour around the school. It was ten minutes that we had been waiting when the group showed up.

Miss Fontaine introduced herself to the male students of Obelisk Blue. The teacher that led the boys approached us. He looked very.... weird. He had light blond hair that had a bowl cut style but had a long ponytail at the back. I found it very disturbing that a guy wore lipstick.

"Good morning ladies," he said. "I'm Dr. Crowler. I'm in charge of the boy's dorm rooms."

I think I remember Jake telling me about some Crowler teacher. He had said that if you want to get in his good books you must not make fun of his appearance, to always use the title 'Dr.' when addressing him and not call him female or a transvestite. He warned me that you will be heavily picked on throughout all three years you attend the school – he had seen it.

We went on a tour throughout the school. We saw the many duelling arenas and lecture theatres in the school. Miss Fontaine and Dr. Crowler also showed us the library, the lunch room and took us outside to show us the scenery that Duel Academy had. We also learned about how Duel Academy offers students the chance to study abroad and about the founder of the school. I couldn't believe that my favourite duellist founded the school I now attended.

We then joined up with the two other dorms, Slifer Red and Ra Yellow. I went and said hello to the group of Slifer Red students that watched my duel on tryout day. I found it weird that other Obelisk Blue students looked down on me just because I talked to students from another dorm.

"Look at that girl, hanging out with Slifer students!" I heard a boy say. I turned and saw it was the same boy who asked the teacher about the student who got the highest mark. "She probably just scraped in here! I'm surprised she isn't in Slifer herself!"

A roar of laughter erupted. All of his friends started laughing. I felt a rush of adrenaline through my veins. I knew my bubble was about to burst. I approached the boy.

"You're pathetic," I told him. "You shouldn't down a fellow Obelisk Blue just because of who they socialise with. I may be better at duelling than them but it doesn't mean that I should act like I have something shoved where the sun-don't-shine like you do."

"Oooooh!" The boy's friends all said in unison. They all then started laughing.

"That's big talk for someone who just scraped into Obelisk Blue," he smugly replied.

I couldn't help but laugh. "You do realise that you're talking to the duellist that defeated that teacher without losing a single life point."

"Don't kid yourself!"

I smiled. "If you're so confident about your duelling abilities, meet me here at 4pm sharp. We'll then see who has the bigger mouth that way."

"Don't go running to your Slifer friends once I beat you," he mocked.

"Just be there," I told him. "Bring all your friends if you want to – I'm sure they'd love to see you lose!"

"You're late," I told the boy when he finally arrived at four, followed by all his friends.

"Are you in a hurry to get beat?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "I just want this duel to start – just so I can see you lose!"

"Let's duel!" We both said in sync as we both got our duel disks ready.

"I'll start," he said, drawing his card. "I play Vorse Raider in attack mode. I'll then equip him with the spell cards United We Stand and Mage Power. This brings his attack up to 2700. It's impressive huh?"

I yawned. "Are you done?"

"Just go," he pouted.

I drew my card. I had the perfect plan to defeat him in one turn. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards."

"That won't do you anything!" he told me. "There's nothing in your deck that can defeat this monster – your cards are too puny!"

I was angry now. He shouldn't insult me as a duellist! I guarantee that he'll regret that! "I'll show you real power! I activate the spell card Power Bond and fuse Cyber Dragon, Cyber Barrier Dragon, Cyber Laser Dragon, Proto-Cyber dragon and Cyber Phoenix together to summon Chimeratech Overdragon."

The boy gasped. I just laughed.

"Say hello to my machine! It has 4000 attack and defence points thanks to his ability plus it doubles because of the effect of Power Bond."

"NO WAY!" The boy shouted.

"Yeah, that's not all!" I told him. I wanted to make him feel humiliated. "I play the spell card Limiter Removal to double my monsters attack, making it 16,000!!!!"

He shrieked as Chimeratech Overdragon grew larger.

"Chimeratech Overdragon, attack his monster and deplete his life points!!!"

The monster evaporated Vorse Raider with a single attack. The boy dropped to his knees.

"You got knocked out in one turn!" I told him sweetly. "Just don't judge me again, okay?"

He nodded and didn't say a single word.


	4. Miss Duel Academy

**Chapter 4:**

Ever since my victory against that Obelisk guy I've had a few more people join my 'fan club'. In the club are five Slifer Red members, two from Ra Yellow and four from Obelisk Blue so far. I couldn't believe that within the first month of my attendance at Duel Academy I already had a fan club!

Alexis laughed when I told her about it at lunch.

"Oh that's cute!" She said while she laughed.

"I think it's cool yet random," I admitted. "I just hope that they only recognise me as a duellist and nothing else."

"Hey, Erika, see if you can get as many fans as my brother has in his fan club." She joked.

I poked out my tongue and laughed. "I don't mind. I just feel honoured that people like me."

Alexis smiled. "Hey, you know what? You should do that contest in the academy where they try to find Miss Duel Academy. You don't have to duel – it's just on looks."

"Nah," I said. "I think I'd rather duel."

"It's too bad!" Alexis said. "I've already signed you up."

"WHAT!" I shrieked. "Now people will judge me on looks and not duelling potential!"

Alexis laughed. "I think you'll win. And besides, the girl who won it last year only gets her way by her looks – she rarely duels at all."

She knew she hit a soft spot on me. "What's the point of being Miss Duel Academy when you don't even duel much?"

"So are you in?" Alexis double checked.

"I am now. I don't like people who do that!"

"I'll vote for you!" Alexis said with a happy tone. "You're a great duellist and you're pretty."

I blushed. "Thanks."

"Oooooh, sis did you want to be Miss Duel Academy?" Jake mocked me as I headed passed him and a couple of his friends. "I thought you wanted to be a duellist – not a model."

"Well she's talented and beautiful enough to do both," one of his friends commented.

I blushed. My brother glared at his friend.

"Dude, she's my little sister!" He reminded him. His friend just laughed.

"I didn't want to do it," I admitted. "My friend just signed me up for it."

"You know that if Mum and Dad find out that you're modelling..."

I knew what Jake was trying to do. Our parents thought that I could do something more than duelling. Mum always thought that I could be a singer, a dancer, an actress, a doctor, a scientist, a model, an artist and so much more. When I told her I wanted to be a duellist, it freaked her out. I think she tries her best to understand that this is what I love to do but just can't see why I'd choose duelling over all of the other things I could do with my life. He'd probably try to blackmail me by telling mum but I knew what to tell him.

"Jake," I whispered in his ear. "Tell mum about Miss Duel Academy and I'll show everyone the stuff hidden in your bedroom – especially the girls!"

I saw his face go very pale. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, Jake, you don't look so good," one of his friends informed.

"You wanna lie down or something?" Another asked.

Jake shrugged. "Nah I'm fine. Let's get going."

"Bye big brother!" I said happily but in a cheeky tone.

"Bye little sis!" he replied, grinning at me.

As he walked off, a group of students approached me. Most of them wore red jackets. I knew this was my little fan club. They didn't look too happy.

"Erika! I can't believe you entered to become Miss Duel Academy!" A boy from Slifer Red said. "I thought you were a duellist over anything else."

I felt a little shocked – they looked at this from a negative perspective.

"My friend signed me up for this. I didn't care until she told me that she signed me up," I explained. "I want to win this to prove that being Miss Duel Academy won't be on looks – it will be on skill. I want to win this to prove that it should be about duelling and nothing less."

He gave me a smile. "Well I know I'll vote for you."

Lots of voices followed behind him. Ones that agreed to support me too. I couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks guys!" I said with a smile. "I barely know you all and you're so kind!"

"Well you're better than all the other girls that usually sign up for this from what I've heard," a guy from Ra Yellow said. "All the other girls that get into the finals are all from Obelisk Blue but are very stuck up."

I figured he was in his second year at the academy. He seemed to be knowledgeable on events that happened within Duel Academy.

"Some members of Obelisk Blue aren't like that," I told him, thinking of Alexis. I don't know why she didn't enter the competition herself.

A few weeks had passed. Alexis and all my admirers approached me all at the same time. It made me jump a little.

Voices surrounded me. Each one of them said something different. I could tell that Alexis was getting frustrated.

"Can you all be quiet for just a sec?" She asked in a very calm and kind voice. "Please?"

Everyone became quiet. Alexis gave me a smile.

"You're in the finals for Miss Duel Academy!"

She held her hands over her ears as the others started telling me their positive comments. I honestly can't believe how so many people could like me after one duel and even more importantly, why?

The next day I was told that I had to go up on stage in front of the whole school. I was used to being in the public eye but not on being judged by looks! I waited for the announcer to call my name.

Alexis came by back stage. "I know you'll win!'

"I'll give you ten bucks if I win," I told her, feeling unconfident that most of the school would vote for me.

"Well you got a lot of votes," she told me. "Why would you be here if you didn't? And besides, you're a first year. The others are in their second and third year so that's pretty good!"

I smiled. "You have a point."

"Contestant number two is only in her first year at duel academy and has already made high rankings as an Obelisk Blue student. Please welcome, Erika Dark!" I heard the announcer say over the speakers.

"See ya!" I whispered to Alexis as I walked out on stage.

As I walked out onto the stage, the lights hit as I made my way to stand beside the girl who was called out first. I stood straight and smiled at the large crowd. I gave a little wave. I thought I heard the boys that admired me cheer me on in the audience.

The announcer welcomed the other four girls onto the stage. I noticed that each of them was in Obelisk Blue. They all had long hair, beautiful eyes and were bigger busted than me. I felt a bit like a fish out of water compared to these young women. It was humiliating.

"Hey may the best woman win," I said with a smile.

"Too bad that will be me!" All four of them said in unison. It was obvious they all wanted to become Miss Duel Academy.

"Now the winner with the most votes," the announcer said. "And crowned Miss Duel Academy is... Miss Erika Dark."

I was sure he was joking. I couldn't believe that I won. The other girls looked as if they couldn't believe it either.

People gave me flowers and a sash with 'MISS DUEL ACADEMY' written on it. I felt like it was a joke – this school should be on duelling and not some beauty pageant. On the other hand I couldn't believe I had that many supporters.

I smiled and waved to the crowed as they applauded. I could see my older brother amongst them all trying his best not to laugh.

At the end of the day, as I went to the Obelisk Blue dorms, I received a lot of wolf whistles... I KNEW this was a bad idea.

"Hey Miss Duel Academy," an Obelisk Blue student said as he approached me. "Why don't you swing by my dorm tonight?"

He drew closer and cupped my chin. I slapped his hand away and glared at him. Sure he was really good looking but I didn't even know him.

"Someone's a little feisty there," he joked.

"Just leave me alone," I told him in a calm but serious tone.

As I went to get away, he grabbed me and pulled me closer to him. I tried to push him away but he was way stronger than me. I felt rather scared but didn't let it show.

The student suddenly let go and fell to the ground. I saw a figure in the dark behind him. The figure started to kick and punch the student.

"Stop it!" I told him in a forceful voice. "Yeah he's a creep but don't kill him."

"He needs to be taught a lesson," the voice said. "No one messes with you and gets away with it."

I saw the figure. It was Jake. I ran up to him and gave him a hug. Tears streamed down my eyes.

"I may have been scared, Jake, but that's no reason to beat him up," I explained. "I don't want you to get expelled because I couldn't protect myself."

"It's okay sis," he replied. "I have a good record so I think it will just be a warning."

Jake waked me to my dorm. Miss Fontaine didn't look too impressed to see a boy at the girls' dorms – they were not allowed near the girls' dorms what so ever.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Jake. "You know boys aren't allowed near the girls' dorm!"

Jake explained the whole situation to Miss Fontaine. She seemed horrified at the thought and immediately went to report the situation to Chancellor Sheppard.

In the end, the student got expelled for abusing another student and Jake got a warning and a month's worth of detention for violence – he was lucky it was because he was protecting me otherwise it would've been expulsion.

Alexis gave me a hug. "Are you okay Erika?"

I gave her a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."

To be honest, I wasn't fine. It was a frightening event. Who knows what would've happened if Jake didn't come by.

"If only a hottie like that came and rescued me," Mindy said, staring at Jake.

"He can save me anytime!" Jasmine said.

I glared at my friends. "That's my brother!"

They grinned at me. "You should set us up!"

Both girls glared at each other, then started a verbal war for who would have Jake. It eased me up a lot. It was funny my friends liked my brother...But scary at the same time!

Jake chuckled at the thought. He gave Jasmine and Mindy a wink. They immediately began to giggle. After the giggling, they started to argue over who Jake winked at.

I then remembered something. I handed Alexis ten dollars. "Here, this is yours."

"Why?" She asked, sounding confused.

"We made a bet," I reminded her. "I said I'd give you ten bucks if I won."

She took the money. "Yay now I'm ten dollars richer!"

I giggled a little. "You're just lucky I keep my word – and actually remember too!"


	5. The Calm Figure

**Chapter 5:**

Another month went by so fast! Before I'd know it, exams will be creeping up! Sure it's only April but I want the best grades in the academy.

Dr. Crowler handed back our test results in class. He handed mine back to me.

"Excellent work Miss Dark! A perfect score!" he said energetically. I really wish he didn't say it so loud that the whole class could hear. "I hope you keep this up!"

I looked at my test and saw I had an A+. Every question was marked correct. "Thanks Dr. Crowler."

Mindy fake coughed. "Suck-up! Goody-good!"

She giggled a little as I glared at her. She always teased me like that when I got high marks and responded to a teachers comment with manners.

Alexis glanced over my shoulder to compare her results with mine. "Oh so that's what I got wrong with that one," she said.

I handed over my sheet to her. "Go over the ones you need," I told her.

She smiled. "Thanks Erika."

"What did you get?" I said as I looked at her sheet.

"I got an A," she said happily. "I got a few wrong but I'm so happy I got an A!"

The bell rang for lunch. Alexis packed up her stuff.

"Erika, it's lunch time," she informed. "You've stayed behind in class for a month now."

"Yeah I know," I told her. "I just want to do a bit of theory. I need to work on it more than duelling."

"Okay then," she said. "I'll be in the lunch room if you want me."

"Cool," I said. "See you guys later."

As Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy left the classroom; I opened up a text book and flicked through the theory. Sure I was already getting top grades and was in Obelisk Blue but there's always a chance that my straight-A scores could slip one day.

"Miss Dark, why are you still in class?" Dr. Crowler asked. "You're always staying behind."

I sighed and stopped working for a moment. "I don't want to risk my grades slipping. I have to improve."

Crowler sighed. "If only all my students were as hard working as you."

I smiled politely, struggling not to roll my eyes. Sure Crowler may be nice to me but he's heartless when it comes to people who aren't in the Obelisk Blue dorm. It's pathetic, really.

Crowler picked up his papers and headed for the door. "Be sure to close the door behind you Miss Dark." He informed.

I nodded. "Yes, Dr. Crowler."

As he walked out the room, I couldn't help but sigh. I hated being a so called suck-up. It did seem that way but I'd rather get along well with the teachers than be scowled by them. Who knows, they could lower your grades or even demote you to another level of dorm! If that happened, I'm more than positive my parents would kill me!

Thirty minutes passed by quickly as I brushed over traps; chain links in particular and what makes a good chain link. I put down my pen and rubbed my eyes. Maybe I should take a break now?

After contemplating for a good three minutes whether or not to stop studying, I decided that I'd stop working – I was hungry.

I quickly organized my papers and sorted them out into my dark blue ring binder. Carefully, I placed my deck into my right pocket and my pens in the left. I picked up my ring binder and my text book.

"Okay...I'll go have lunch," I told myself. "I wonder what Ms Dorothy has on the menu today."

I walked out of the lecture room, closed the door and walked down the corridor in the direction in which my locker was located.

The clip clop of my blue mini boots was the only noise I heard through the corridor. I couldn't believe it was so deserted.

As I reached my locker, I unlocked it and swung open its door. I placed my folder and text book so they balanced against the left wall and put my pens on the top shelf. I then closed it back up, spun the dial and headed towards the lunch room.

I pulled out my deck and looked at the card on the bottom as I walked down the corridor. The picture was of a woman with sandy blonde hair. She wore a dark red robe with a matching witch's hat. She also had a pair of light pink wings and was riding a broomstick. Fairywitch – she's my favourite card. Sure she may be weak but we have a special bond.

I smiled as I gazed at the level three monster card. _"Though destined to be a fairy, this creature chose the way of the witch instead." _She inspired me to do what I want, not what I should or am supposed to be.

Suddenly, without notice, I felt as if I had collided with someone. It was quite instant and unexpected when the force caused me to lose my balance. I fell to the ground. By accident, I let go of my deck and the cards scattered all over the corridor.

"Oh I'm sorry!" I said, while picking up my cards on my hands and knees. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Here, let me help you pick these up," a voice said.

I didn't look up but I knew it was a male's voice. His voice was very calm.

He got on his hands and knees and helped me pick up my scattered cards. I felt like such an idiot! First, I walked into this guy and now he's helping me pick up my cards.

A few moments later and we had picked up all of the cards. I saw a last card lying on the ground. I went to pick it up but his hand reached it a second before mine did. It was an accident, but our hands touched.

I looked up at him and I instantly fell in love with his eyes. They looked so calm.

I blushed and pulled my hand away. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he calmly replied as he picked up the last card. He then handed it and the other cards to me. "I think these belong to you."

I smiled. "Thank you very much for that."

We both got off the ground. I saw, by his uniform, that he was also in Obelisk Blue. It was strange as I had never seen him around before. Although, this is my first year at Duel Academy so I didn't know everyone just yet.

"Are you okay?" he asked, with his calm voice.

"Y-Yeah," I stuttered. "Thanks for the help though."

He smirked. "It's okay." He turned around and headed in the direction he was heading in before our collision. "I might see you around."

As he walked away I smiled. I drew the top card from the pile he picked up. This was the card that we both attempted to pick up.

I let out a little giggle. "You have something to do with this...Don't you?"

The card said nothing. The creature known as Fairywitch still remained in the same pose as she always had.

"Soooo.... What did he look like?" Mindy asked.

"Is he hot?" Jasmine continued.

Alexis laughed a little. "Let the girl answer the questions before you ramble on!"

"Well.... I didn't take much notice but I am in love with his eyes," I answered honestly. "He's also in the same dorm as us but that's all I know."

Mindy and Jasmine looked somehow upset.

"I bet they're not as magnificent as our honey!" Mindy fantasised aloud.

"Yeah, he's so hot!" Jasmine continued.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "You two are... Strange."

I giggled. "I second that!"

Jasmine and Mindy glared at the both of us while we laughed. We always had a joke around. It was fun.


	6. Birthday Bash

**Chapter 6:**

Weeks had passed. I stirred in bed. Today was a Monday but I REALLY didn't want to go to class.

"Wake up Erika!" Alexis said in a happy tone.

"Why on a Monday?" I asked her.

She smiled. "Just get up."

I got out of bed. "Now can I go back to bed?"

She giggled. "No."

I looked at the time. "But it's six in the morning!"

"Yeah but we have class."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't know what she was up to but I knew it was something.

"Alexis, do we have a field trip with Professor Banner or something today?" I asked as I grabbed my uniform.

"Yeah so you better hurry!" She told me. "We still have to have breakfast!"

"Oh shoot!" I said as I got changed in the bathroom. I'm so glad she forgot but I'm not glad I wasn't told about a field trip a bit earlier.

After I had got ready in the bathroom, I went back into our room and made my bed. We both then went downstairs and met up with Jasmine and Mindy.

"Good morning!" Mindy said happily.

I rubbed my eyes. "Good morning Mindy, good morning Jasmine."

"You look a bit sleepy," Jasmine said, deliberately stating the obvious.

I smiled. "Yeah, I am."

She put her arm around me and swung me side to side and started singing. "Cheer up sleepy Jean!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're such a weirdo Jas!"

She just smiled. "C'mon! Let's have breakfast."

As we walked into the dining room, I saw that it was deserted. It was really weird considering there was a field trip. Perhaps we were the only ones in Obelisk Blue that wanted to go. Breakfast was already ready. It was really fancy. Normally I just had cereal while I went over some notes.

I went to go back upstairs to get some notes to revise until Alexis grabbed my arm.

"No Erika, no studying until class," she told me.

"Yeah we got up early so we could have a fancy breakfast," Jasmine smiled.

Alexis glanced at her as if she had said too much.

"So there's no field trip?" I asked.

"Oops!" Jasmine said.

Mindy slapped her forehead. "Now you've done it!"

"No," Alexis told me. "Sorry I lied but we thought you could do with a relaxing breakfast today."

I smiled. "Thanks for the thought."

We all had breakfast together. Alexis sat on my left, Mindy sat across from me and Jasmine sat on her right. We started talking about things that didn't concern school. Jasmine and Mindy's main topic was the boys at school.

"I can't wait to see him!" Mindy sighed in delight.

"Ditto," Jasmine said in the same tone.

I laughed. "Is that all you two can talk about?"

"Yeah, pretty much!" Mindy admitted. Alexis laughed.

"What about you two?" Jasmine asked Alexis and me. "Is there anyone at the school that you two like?"

I thought for a moment. "No not really. Only duelling interests me."

"Yeah that's the same with me," Alexis admitted.

It then clicked to me. That guy that helped me pick up my cards!

"Oh there is him," I said out loud.

Jasmine and Mindy leaned forward in interest. "Who's this 'he'?" They asked at the same time. Sometimes I thought they must have been twins in another life or something.

"You remember when I told you two about that guy that helped me pick up my cards?" I told them. "I don't know him but I love his eyes."

"Oh I remember that story," Jasmine sighed. "It was so romantic!"

"What about the card?" Mindy said. "It's destiny! You could choose to be with him! It's really romantic!"

I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't romantic! Our hands just accidently touched while picking up that card. It was a one in forty-one chance. It could've easily have been my Chimeratech Overdragon or even Call of the Haunted!"

"Chimeratech Overdragon.....It could mean that your relationship will get stronger over the years?" Jasmine asked.

"How'd you get that?" Alexis asked.

"Easy. Chimeratech Dragon's ability requires a lot of monsters to be fused so it will get stronger. The fused monsters could be years and Chimeratech Overdragon could be your relationship. It gets stronger as the more years go by." She explained.

"What about the card Call of the Haunted?" I asked.

"I could explain that one," Mindy admitted. "You'll last till the grave and even when you go on to the next life."

Alexis was on the verge of laughing. "How does that work?"

"Call of the Haunted allows a monster to be brought back from the graveyard. That monster could be you two. Since the monster was brought back from its previous life, your relationship could be so strong that it will last into another life."

Alexis laughed. I rolled my eyes as I put some food onto my fork. "You two think too much."

"Too bad it's not in class!" Alexis joked.

"HEY!" Jasmine and Mindy said at the same time.

"I think even your deck says you two should be together!" Alexis teased me.

"Oh not you too," I sighed.

"Maybe you should try to find him and get to know him better," Mindy suggested. "He could end up liking you!"

"I just hope he's really into duelling," I admitted. "I know, like the previous Miss Duel Academy, some Obelisk Blue students don't like duelling. If he is then I know we'd have good convocations."

"Too bad when those two find a guy, he will only be able to have a conversation about guys," Alexis told me, deliberately pointing out Jasmine and Mindy.

They just pouted and continued to finish their breakfast.

After breakfast, I went back upstairs to brush my teeth and wash my face. All of us then went back downstairs to head to class.

"Why are we going to class so early?" Mindy asked.

"You know," Jasmine convinced her.

"No I don't," she said stupidly.

"So we can get ahead like Erika!"

"Oooooh!"

I giggled. "I just use all my spare time to study and practice."

"Yeah but we use that to look for him!" Mindy said all googly-eyed.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's go then."

As we went to class, I really wondered if they really did forget. They have a lot on their minds so I don't blame them if they did. It suits me just fine.

We walked into the room. I saw that there were twelve other students, five from Slifer Red, two from Ra Yellow and five from Obelisk Blue.

"Happy Birthday," Everyone chimed at the same time.

An Obelisk Blue student approached me quickly and gave me a hug. "Happy Birthday sis!"

I smiled. "Thanks Jake!"

"Did you think we'd actually forget?" Alexis asked.

"I actually think you did," I admitted.

"Yay! The plan worked then!" Mindy said happily.

"Are you gonna come over here and get your cake or what?" A Slifer Red boy with sandy blond hair asked cheekily.

I knew that his name was Tom. He was the one that started the fan club for me. I knew each member now. The five from Slifer Red were Tom, Mike, Danny, Richie and Nikki. The two from Ra Yellow were James and Blake. And the four from Obelisk Blue were Kyle, Shane, Mark and Tania.

It was a good morning. We all had cake and everyone was kind enough to get me something. My fan club had all pitched in to buy lots of cards that would suit my duelling style, Jasmine and Mindy bought me lots of make-up – they knew I didn't wear any and they wanted to doll me up one day, Alexis bought me some cards and stuff that would help me out in class and for study and finally Jake bought me a present from him, Mum and Dad; it was a white cocktail dress with matching shoes. There also were a lot of packs of cards, which I guessed was Jake's personal touch. I thanked everyone and gave each of them a hug. It was hard to believe that all these people cared for me!

"Pssst, Erika!" Jake whispered in my ear. "You're sixteen!"

I punched him in the arm. I knew what he was meaning. He just gave a laugh.

The day carried on like a normal school day. Although Mindy kept telling people that it was my birthday but besides that, it was an awesome day.


	7. Zane Truesdale

**Chapter 7:**

A few days had passed when I woke up to Alexis shaking me.

"Hey! Hurry up!" Alexis ordered, "Or you'll miss the duel!"

"What duel?" I stirred as I lay in bed. I guess I studied for too long last night.

"Zane got challenged by another duellist. They're going to face each other this morning."

I had heard of Zane. Zane Truesdale was apparently the best duellist in the academy. He was an all-rounder, like me, he got the top grades in exams and in practical. However, I had never seen him so I haven't seen one of his duels – even though he's also a friend of Alexis'.

I decided to get up otherwise Alexis would get really annoyed at me. She's lucky I'm not one of those girls who need to put on make-up in the morning. I've been told I look better with only a very little bit. I bet Jasmine and Mindy would love to pamper me up with the make-up they got me for my birthday every day. Luckily I'm not in the same room as them.

We entered the Obelisk Blue duelling area and took our seats. We were early so we got some of the best ones. Good thing Alexis is punctual to these things.

Mindy and Jasmine arrived a little bit later. They were lucky we saved them seats.

"Thanks girls! We owe you!" Jasmine said.

"Next time, be punctual like us," Alexis warned. I giggled a little.

"Hey have you seen that guy again?" Mindy asked me. "You know, the one with the eyes you fell in love with?"

This was something I always thought about. I was always on the lookout for him. Next time I see him I'm going to get his name.

I gave a sigh. "Unfortunately I haven't."

Mindy whined a little. "That's a shame."

"Hey, he might be here," Jasmine suggested. "This is a big match after all. It's not every day we see Zane duel."

"You're right, Jas," I replied. "I'll have to be on the lookout."

I gazed around the area looking for the guy. All I knew was that he was in Obelisk Blue. Too bad this duel was only available for people in Obelisk Blue to watch... It was in the Obelisk Blue duelling area. Wait, if he's in Obelisk Blue…wouldn't this be a good thing?

I lost track of time when Alexis gave me a nudge. "The duellists are stepping up – It's going to start now!"

Both duellists took their stand. I examined them both. The first guy wore a dark blue Obelisk Blue trench coat with white around the rims. He had short brown hair and striking green eyes. I've seen him before in some classes. He gets high scores in theory but works excellently when it comes to practical duelling. I think his name was Alistair.

I looked over at the other duellist. He seemed vaguely familiar. He wore a white trench coat with a blue trim. His hair was layered and was a shade of turquoise. His eyes caught my attention though. Blue and as cold as ice but had a sense of calmness.

I gasped in shock. My eyes were probably wide and my mouth was sure to catch a few flies if it remained open the way it was. Okay, it wasn't THAT wide, but it sure felt that way.

Alexis looked over at me. "Hey are you okay?"

"That's him!" I told her nudging in the direction of the second duellist.

"You must be thinking of someone else." Alexis said.

I shook my head. "It's definitely him. I'd know those eyes from anywhere. They're so calm."

"But that's Zane," she told me.

"He's Zane!?!" I said in shock. I can't believe the guy I collided with was Zane Truesdale - the best duellist practically and academically in the school!

Mindy grinned a little and gave me a nudge. "It looks like someone has a crush on Zane Truesdale!"

I rolled my eyes. "Mindy, you're stupid." Jasmine and Alexis giggled a bit while Mindy pouted.

"That was a great duel!" Alexis said enthusiastic. "I can't believe that guy lasted that long against Zane!"

"It wasn't THAT interesting, Alexis," Jasmine sighed.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Just because you're 'honey' wasn't here."

Jasmine sniffed a little. "Yeah, it's very sad!"

"Well I agree with Alexis," I commented, probably sounding enthusiastic. "I can't believe how Zane whipped out that fusion monster so effortlessly – especially for its requirements and at the same time doubling its attack points! Then he used that de-fusion card to de-fuse his Cyber End Dragon into three Cyber Dragons. I loved how he then attacked with them all – it's a brilliant strategy! It was amazing!"

Mindy giggled. "Looks like someone can be a commentator."

"Either that or she does have a crush on Zane!" Jasmine giggled.

I slapped my forehead and sighed. "You two and trying to spread love related rumours."

"Guilty as charged!" Jasmine admitted. "Now we're gonna go off and see if we can find our honey bun! See you's!"

"Bye!" Alexis and I said in sync as Jasmine dragged Mindy off.

"C'mon let's go find Zane," Alexis said. "I want to congratulate him on his win."

Oh no... If I stuck around with Alexis, I'd have to see Zane again. It was humiliating enough running into him before – I didn't want to face him again; I still felt really bad from when we first met.

"I might catch up to Jasmine and Mindy," I decided. "I wanna find out who exactly this 'honey' of theirs is.... Catch ya later!"

As I went to walk away, Alexis grabbed my arm. "No way am I letting you go off with them! Besides, he won't bite!"

She had a giggle while I glared at her. "I still feel rather embarrassed after what happened, me bumping into him and all that..." I confessed.

Alexis smiled. "Don't worry! He's not the type to bring up something like that."

"Okay then!" I said. "I'll come with you. But if the past gets brought up, you're shouting me lunch!"

I followed Alexis as we walked from the grandstand down to the duelling platform. I was used to how huge the duelling platform was but it still was unbelievable.

"Stop daydreaming and hurry up!" Alexis chimed as she approached a corridor, leading to an area where the duellists who were about to duel waited.

I stopped staring at the duelling area and ran to catch up with Alexis. One thing was for sure, I hated running in this uniform – the mini boots had a slight heel and the skirt was a bit too short. Who, on a normal day, would run in mini boots with a slight heel and a mini skirt?

I caught up with Alexis and we both walked through the corridor, up a few stairs and arrived in a corridor in which some lockers were situated. Alexis made her way down the corridor.

"Hey, where are we heading?" I asked. "It's like we're on a wild goose chase!"

"Just heading towards the lighthouse on the docks," Alexis confessed. "Zane's always out there. Either that or he'll be down one of the corridors......He might go and watch a duel when I think about it..."

I sighed. "So you have no idea where he'd be exactly?"

Alexis laughed. "No idea."

"That's helpful!" I said sarcastically. I found myself laughing about our random situation.

"Why don't we split up and try to find him?" Alexis suggested. "One of us could go out by the beach and look while the other walks around the corridors."

"What about the Obelisk Blue dorms?" I asked. "He might've gone back there or something."

"No, it's not like Zane to leave unless his lessons are finished for the day."

"Okay," I agreed. "I'll take the corridors. You look on the beach and by the lighthouse. I'll check the corridors."

"You do realise there are lots of corridors compared to beach area," Alexis informed.

_"Crud," _I thought. _"Trust me to pick the search area that required more walking than the other!"_

Alexis giggled. "Shall we meet at the lunch room?"

I nodded. "If he's not there, we'll just go straight there. Is that cool?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you soon."

Alexis and I ran in opposite directions. She headed towards the exit and I headed deeper into the school.

I couldn't believe how many corridors this school had!!! I spent fifteen minutes running up and down corridors and I still hadn't seen any sign of Zane anywhere. I really should do more running than walking when I think about it now.

I stopped running and decided to walk fast. I took peeks into the lecture rooms as I walked passed them – just in case he might be in there.

It felt as if I was in a maze trying to find something I had lost previously – except the object was moving around like I was.

I decided to start running again even though I was tiring myself out. It would make the work much faster. I could hear voices up ahead but I was only concerned in what I had told Alexis I would do.

_"I wonder if Alexis likes Zane." _I thought to myself. _"Would she be this desperate to see him, if she didn't like him? Or maybe she's up to some-..."_

Mythoughts stopped when I realised that I had tripped up. I was about to fall over face first. I put my hands out in front of me and embraced the fall. I was startled to realise that I was slightly on a lean but was touching something cushiony.

"I hope you don't develop a bad habit of bumping into me there."

I looked up to see a pair of calm blue eyes looking down at me. I felt my face go hot but I got to my feet.

"I'm sorry Zane; I was just on my way.... To find..." I clicked. "Ah! Zane," he looked slightly clueless. I sighed. "Alexis is looking for you."

"Where is she?" He asked. "Is she okay?"

"Y-Yeah she's fine. She just wants to tell you something...I think." I told him. "She's probably waiting in the lunch room."

Zane immediately started heading down the corridor. I ran after him. I didn't expect his reaction would be so fast. He didn't seem like he was in a hurry though.

As we were walking, I felt his gaze. "Are you alright?" He asked. "You look warn out."

"I'm fine," I lied.

"You may say that, but you don't look like it."

I sighed. "Kay, I'm a little tired from the running around but its fine." I then realised something. "Oh! And congrats on your duel! It was amazing!"

He looked surprised. "You're in Obelisk Blue...Yet you have never seen one of my duels?"

I nodded. "It's my first year. I guess I'm more interested in passing than watching others duel. Sure it would give me a better idea of what strategies my peers use but I've got to get high grades before anything."

"I don't blame you," Zane confessed. "Besides, it's more of a challenge if you go in not knowing what kind of deck your opponent has."

I smiled. "That's what I thought too."

It was amazing how fast we got to the lunch room. I gazed around. There weren't many people in there. Of the ones that were there, not one was Alexis.

"She's not here yet," I stated. "Guess she's still looking."

"Find an empty table," Zane suggested. "Then we could wait for Alexis there."

I went looking for a free table. I quickly found one that was in clear sight. Surely Alexis would see us here.

I looked back towards Zane to find that he was gone. I sighed and sat down.

_"Maybe he's gone off to find Alexis,"___I thought as I rested my head on the table. _"I'll get some energy back and then go off to find them."_

It was a few minutes later when I heard someone say something.

"I hope you didn't think I took off," a voice said. I looked up to see Zane. He took a seat and handed me something. "Here."

I took it. It was a cold can of soda.

"Thanks Zane," I said. "I'll pay you back, okay?"

"Don't worry about it," he said calmly while opening the can. "It's nothing."

"But I have to give you something back!" I admitted. "I'd feel bad otherwise."

"Okay," he agreed. "Just tell me your name and we'll be even."

I couldn't believe it! I was so rude! I hadn't even introduced myself!

I gave him a smile. "My name's Erika Dark."

"It's nice to meet you Erika," he said. "Let me guess, you use a dark deck?"

"Maybe," I teased. "But have you seen me duel?"

Zane just shook his head. I opened the can of soda. "Then you don't know."

"If you can become one of the best in the academy," Zane suggested, "I'll duel you."

"Is that a challenge?" I asked. Zane nodded.

"Okay," I said as I put the can to my lips. "You're on."

As I took a sip, I heard footsteps approaching our table. I looked up and saw Alexis. I gave her a wave and she took a seat with us.

"I found him!" I told Alexis. "Oh and you also owe me lunch because he mentioned the incident of colliding with him when we first bumped into each other today."

I drank my drink. Alexis looked at Zane. "Is that true?"

He thought for a moment, trying to remember what he said. "I think so."

I laughed at Alexis as I placed down my can. She just glared at me.

"Anyway," Zane began, "what did you want to tell me Alexis?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your duel this morning," she informed. "It was a great duel."

"Thanks," Zane said calmly before he took a sip of his drink.

"Oh and Zane, this is Erika. She's my best friend," Alexis told him.

I smiled. "Thanks Alexis."

She smiled back. "Oh and Erika, Zane's my best friend too. He's in his second year here."

I looked shocked. "And you're already the best in the academy!?" I asked Zane.

"Yeah," he said casually.

I instantly stood up and put a hand on the table. "Okay now I've just had an idea. I'm gonna become a better duellist next year than you have been this year!"

"Why don't you push yourself harder and try to be better than me this year?" He asked. "It's only the beginning of May. Exams are at the end of the year."

I smiled. "Okay! I'll try my best!"

Alexis lifted up the can I was drinking from and rattled it around. "Zane, did you buy her a soda?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "Why?"

Alexis shook her head. "Now she's gonna be hyper all night....."

"Okay so this trap combo of mine can exterminate the trap my opponent used against me," I said, sitting up in bed.

"Erika.... Aren't you tired?" Alexis moaned. "It's eleven at night."

"Not at all," I said with a smile. "I've got to spend all my time studying if I want to be better than Zane!"

Alexis turned over in her bed. I'm sure I heard her mumble something along the lines of 'stupid Zane'.


	8. Egg Wich Day

**Chapter 8:**

By mid-July, I was already knee deep in my studies. Most people were struggling with their studies but I breezed through. I know there was no one that could top me.... Except for HIM....

As we got our mid-year exam results back, Crowler gave me a smile.

"Well done Miss Dark," he said. "You're one of the best in Obelisk Blue."

"Excuse me Dr. Crowler," I said as politely as I could. "But who is equal to me?"

"Only you and another student got everything correct," he explained. "This student is a second year so I'm very impressed that you have the same marks as him."

I KNOW it's HIM! Zane ALWAYS got top marks! Garr he's so annoying! Why can't he just let a first year like me steal the limelight for once...? Maybe it would be too humiliating for him to get beat by a first year... Yes! That's probably it! I'll just have to beat him in the final exams at the end of the year.

Alexis could see my frustration. "Top marks not good enough?"

"I just want to beat Zane," I admitted. "It's really annoying that I can't be the best."

Alexis smiled. "It's not what others think, but what you think of yourself."

I nodded. "True, but I can't admit that I'm the best until I've beaten the best."

"True," she admitted. "Just remember, you're the one who tops everyone in our year level."

I gave her a smile. "Sorry, I just get a little too competitive at times."

She giggled. "At least you're not like that when we duel."

"That's true... Some people get way too competitive."

After class, Alexis and I walked around. Jasmine and Mindy had already gone off in search for the guy they liked. I STILL didn't know who he was.

I saw a familiar figure down the corridor. I immediately approached them.

"Hi Zane," I said casually. We had become really good friends.

"Let me guess, you want to know what score I got from my mid-year exam?"

I giggled and nodded.

"I got all questions right," he admitted.

"Why do you have to be great at everything?" I asked with a smile. "You're great at everything – duelling, studying, and even sports!"

"Practice," he told me.

I giggled. "I want to beat you! I REALLY want to duel you!"

He smirked. "Just get top marks then I will."

"So how was class?" I asked, changing the subject a little.

"Okay but a bit too simple. We just did revision since we went over our marks for most of the lesson. What about you?"

"We just talked about the results. It was kind of boring!"

"You two seem really chatty," Alexis said.

I blushed. "Well...I um..." In truth I'm not much of a talkative person. I mainly listen to someone else. When it comes to conversation topics I usually let them start it off.

"Hey isn't it egg-wich day?" Zane asked, completely changing the subject.

"It is too!" Alexis remembered.

Egg-wich day always made me nervous. Ms Dorothy makes a bunch of different flavoured sandwiches and puts them into a big area so students can pick one at random. It's just like drawing a card in the deck – it can be anything. The best sandwich is what Ms Dorothy calls an egg-wich which comes from a special bird that lays the most delicious tasting eggs ever. Ms Dorothy only makes one but other flavours vary. Some can be simple flavours like peanut butter and some can be as bad as liver. So far I've never got a bad sandwich or the egg-wich.

Alexis, Zane and I walked to the lunch room. A bunch of students were already there.

"Has anyone got the egg-wich?" Alexis asked a student.

"No," he replied. "One day, I'm gonna get one!"

I know that Jake had got an egg-wich once. That was in his second year at school. He told me that he couldn't stop gloating about it for weeks. He said it tasted absolutely divine. He couldn't eat other eggs around that time – no hen's egg could compare.

The three of us approached the sandwiches.

"So who'll go first?" I asked.

"Ladies first," Zane said politely.

"Alphabetical order by first name," I said quickly.

"Damn!" Alexis said.

She gazed at the pile of packaged sandwiches. She pulled one out at random and held onto it.

"I'll open it when you two open yours," she said. "It's your turn Erika."

I looked at the pile. I began to wonder if my gut feeling would kick in and give me a hand. My gut feeling was always like a premonition – if it was there, whatever I was thinking at the time would come true.

I waved my hand around and walked around the sandwiches. I decided to stop and gazed at the sandwiches. I picked one that my senses told me to pick and went back to where Alexis and Zane were.

"Your turn Zane," I said with a smile. "Good luck!"

Zane looked at the pile of sandwiches for a moment. He then picked one in which his eyes focused on.

"So shall we open them?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah," Zane said casually.

"Why don't we make a bet?" I asked. "Whoever gets the worst sandwich has to get lunch for the other two tomorrow and the one who gets the best gets the drinks – just so it's fair."

Zane smirked. "That's fine with me."

"Okay!" Alexis said. "I'm in!"

At the same time we unwrapped our sandwiches. I was more curious of what the other two got than on my own.

"Eww! It's tongue!" Alexis said, all grossed out as she looked at the inside of the sandwich.

"Mine looks like its peanut butter and jelly," Zane said calmly as he put down the top bun on the sandwich. "What about you Erika?"

I took a peek under the top bun. I smiled a little. "I got the egg-wich!"

"What?" Alexis said in shock.

"Yay, I beat you Zane!" I said with a giggle.

"Well at least tomorrow I get free lunch and a drink," he admitted while Alexis moaned.

As for me, I didn't mind as I knew I had a little good luck on my side for today.

I was right. My day was so lucky! In PE, I actually hit the ball in tennis and actually won a match! Alexis was definitely amazed with me; I was her partner and all other times I wasn't very good. Plus it had turned out to be REALLY hot! I think I might go to the beach after schools over.

"Erika," Mindy came up to me after class had finished. "Miss Fontaine said that you have to go to the Obelisk Blue duelling arena as soon as you can."

I approached Miss Fontaine. "Do I have to duel after class?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Someone had challenged you to a duel and their request got drawn out of the box today."

At duel academy, students could request to duel other students by placing a request in a box. Each day, one was drawn and that duel would follow out. If the same duellist was drawn out the next day, it would be drawn again until neither duellist from the previous day was either the requested duellist or the challenger.

I got dressed out of my PE gear and went to the Obelisk Blue duelling arena where the duellists would await. Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy had come with me.

"Good luck out there!" Jasmine said.

"Yeah go out there and win this!" Mindy told me.

Alexis gave me a smile. "Do your best."

"Thanks guys!" I said happily as they left to watch.

_"There goes my plan for the beach," _I thought to myself as I walked out to the duelling platform. _"Maybe when this finishes I can still go down."_


	9. Alexis' Brother

**Chapter 9:**

"That was a great duel!" Mindy said to me as her, Jasmine and Alexis approached me soon after the duel had ended.

Alexis looked amazed. "Was that your real deck?"

I smirked. "I only use my other deck if I want the duel to be over quickly."

"So that wasn't your best deck?" Jasmine asked.

I frowned. "I wouldn't say that. My Harpie deck is very strategic."

"How is it strategic?" Alexis cheekily asked.

"Like I'd tell you," I said with a laugh.

"I don't blame you," she replied. "I wouldn't give away my strategies either."

I smiled. "Well, now that school's over, I'm gonna go down to the beach. Do you guys want to come?"

Alexis looked shocked. "You actually don't want to study?"

I giggled. "I was thinking of studying after dinner. It's very hot so I wouldn't be able to concentrate."

"That's true," Mindy said. "I was fanning myself in class before lunch."

"I was so tempted to hit her with that book she was using," Jasmine joked in which Mindy glared at her.

"I wish I could, Erika, but Mindy and I still have to do our reports," Jasmine informed.

"They're due tomorrow!" I told them. "We had all week and I've done mine."

"Ditto," Alexis said.

"Well, we were looking for our honey!" Mindy said as if it was a valid excuse.

I rolled my eyes then glanced over at Alexis

Alexis smiled. "I think I'll pass. I've got to start studying."

I smiled back. "That's okay! I won't be too long!"

"Okay then," Alexis said. "Have fun."

"I will," I said "Have fun studying and doing homework!"

"Oh sure we will," Mindy replied sarcastically.

When I reached the beach, I decided to sit down on the sand. I took of my boots and felt the soft sand rubbing against my feet as I moved them a little as I got comfortable. The ocean breeze was as cool and refreshing as I had imagined. It swiftly and gently blew through my hair and against my face. I gazed out at the ocean. It wasn't very calm but would be ideal for a surfer as the surf was good. If only I had brought my board with me. Maybe I could borrow Jake's if he brought his. A figure was already out there surfing. Whoever they were, they were pretty good.

I lay back and looked at the clear blue sky. Not a single cloud was around. I didn't care if I got sand in my hair – I could just wash it tonight along with my uniform. I hate having sand in my hair and clothes.

I shut my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun touch my face. I'm positive that it was relaxing enough to fall asleep.

Darkness shaded suddenly. I opened my eyes and saw someone gazing down at me. I jumped a little. He looked very surprised.

"Pervert," I shouted at him. "You're checking out a girl when she's trying to relax!"

"And to believe I was gonna see if you were okay," he said as he looked away from me. He put his hands on his hips and looked slightly annoyed. "I'm not a pervert!"

I sat up and straightened out my hair a little. I could feel it had grains of sand at the ends. I looked at him. "Were you really wondering if I was okay?"

He sighed and picked up his surf board. "Yeah, you were so motionless that it looked like you were dead or something.... Sorry for giving you a fright anyway."

"Hey it's okay," I told him. "I'm Erika by the way."

His dark brown eyes gazed at me with interest. "Erika? My sister has told me about you. She says you're a really good duellist – nearly as good as Zane apparently." He put his surfboard back in the sand and sat down beside me. "But she never said how beautiful you were."

I blushed as his eyes gazed into mine. Whoever this guy was, he was incredibly handsome!

He gave me a smile. "I'm Atticus."

"Well it's nice to meet you Atticus," I said politely with a smile.

"So what are you doing by the beach, looking dead?" He asked.

I giggled. "I was relaxing after the duel I had earlier... And PE."

He suddenly turned serious. "Don't you have studying to do?"

I smiled. "No, I've done heaps of extra work, all my homework has been done already and it's too hot to be cooped up inside."

"That's true," he said. "That's why I'm here surfing."

I gave him a smile. "Well aren't you lucky."

Atticus looked surprised. "Do you surf too?"

"Yeah, I might have to borrow my brother's board if he has it here," I said. "It's one of the few sports I'm good at. The other is volleyball."

"But you look like a sporty type," he said.

"Yeah but secretly, I hate sports," I confessed. "I only like the two I'm good at. Plus I like walking."

He nodded. "You're a first year, right?"

"Yeah," I told him.

"Does your brother go here too?"

I nodded. "Yeah he's in his second year. His name's Jake Dark."

He laughed a little. "Oh you're Mr. Samurai's sister!" He turned to me and smiled. "Jake's a good friend of mine. We surf all the time. He couldn't come today as he had to do some homework."

I giggled. "Well that's okay. He'd probably torment me."

"Well, that's what big brothers do," he told me as he got back up. He picked up his surfboard. "Well I'm gonna go now."

I smiled. "It was nice talking to you Atticus."

"I'll see you later," he said.

He smiled and gave me a wink was he walked away off. My face went red. Atticus was definitely a good looking guy and certainly friendly enough.

"You took your time!" Jasmine said as she put down her pen.

Both Jasmine and Mindy were in mine and Alexis' room studying. They were lying on the ground while Alexis was sitting up on her bed, reading over some notes.

"Sorry," I said. "I was talking to someone."

"Let me guess," Mindy said dreamily. "It was Zane? Were you two talking on the beach? Perhaps getting to know each other better?"

I glared at Mindy. "Actually, no it wasn't him."

She looked shocked. "Who was it then? Give me details"

"Well he had dark brown hair that reached just below his shoulders and dark brown eyes," I told them. "He was incredibly cute!"

"Continue!" Jasmine demanded.

"Well he was on the beach surfing," I told him. "He came up to me and we started talking."

My words caught Alexis' attention. "What was his name?" She asked.

"Atticus," I said. "He seems like a cool guy."

Alexis looked freaked out at me. "That's my older brother."

My eyes widened. "H-He's your brother!?"

She started to laugh. "Yeah but I can't believe you called my brother cute!"

I blushed. "Just don't tell him I said that."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"But I agree," Mindy said. "Your brother is cute."

"But our honey looks better!" Jasmine said.

Mindy nodded. "Definitely!"

Alexis took a drink after laughing too much.

Jasmine started laughing. "What if Erika got with Atticus! Then Alexis and Erika would be sisters!"

Alexis nearly choked on her drink. She then swallowed and burst out into laughing, which caused me to do the same.

"Why are you two laughing?" Jasmine asked.

"It's stupid," I told her. "I've only just met the guy. Plus it would be weird liking your best friend's brother."

Alexis looked like she wanted to comment but was laughing too much that she couldn't say a word. I'm positive that I've never seen Alexis laugh that much.

Mindy smirked then looked away. Jasmine did the same. Alexis finally stopped laughing.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Do you disagree?"

"Yeah," Mindy said. "Considering that the guy we like is our best friend's brother."

At that comment, Alexis was in laughing fits again. I looked slightly worried.

"Please say your honey isn't MY brother."

The room was filled with nothing besides Alexis' laughter. I couldn't help but laugh too.

"You two like my brother!" I said as I joined Alexis in a laughing fit.

"Hey we're serious! He's really hot!" Mindy said.

I suddenly stopped laughing and looked frightened. Alexis had calmed down again.

"If one of you marries Erika's brother then you and Erika would be sisters!" Alexis told us with a giggle.

I nearly choked on my laughter. I officially took over Alexis with my laughing fit.


	10. The Lighthouse

**Chapter 10:**

The next day was quite weird. Jasmine and Mindy had just finished the last bits of their assignments and were in relief when they handed theirs in – only to get more homework over the weekend. I couldn't help but laugh at the look on their faces when they got handed more homework.

"Hey, Alexis," I said to the girl who always sat beside me in class.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Remember, you have to shout us lunch today!"

Alexis looked away. "Damn, how could I forget?"

I laughed. "You can't get out of it that easily."

"Remember, you're getting the drinks!" She smugly stated.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd forget!" I said truthfully.

She laughed. "Lucky Zane – he got an edible sandwich and gets free lunch today!"

We met up with Zane at lunchtime. He looked pretty laid back today.

"Hi Zane," I said as he approached. "How was your class?"

"Okay," he confessed. "It was pretty easy today. What about you two?"

"We got another assignment," Alexis told him. "But Erika, being the nerd she is, finished hers in class after she finished the class work!"

"HEY!" I yelled. "I'm not a nerd. I just want to achieve my goal!"

"And that is?" She asked.

"Being better than Zane," I confessed as I looked over at Zane. "Plus I want to have some spare time as well."

Zane gazed at me. "Do you still want to be better than me?" I gave him a nod.

"I'll go and get us lunch," Alexis said. "Place your orders now."

"Ditto with drinks," I said.

We decided to sit out beside the lighthouse to have our lunch. It was peaceful, compared to the lunchroom which was noisy.

I gazed out to the ocean. "Wow, the view is so beautiful here."

"Yeah, I come here to think," Zane confessed.

"I don't blame you," I told him. "It's nice."

A lot of thank you's went around as we all handed lunch around. I couldn't eat. The view was just too beautiful to do anything but gaze.

"Hey are you okay Erika?" Alexis asked.

I nodded. "I just can't help but look at the view. I've always loved the sea."

I then decided to eat lunch. The three of us then began to talk about home. Both Zane and Alexis were from very wealthy families. I couldn't help but feel out sided a little. Sure our family was wealthy but we didn't live it large like they did. We mainly talked about memories and how we got into duelling.

By the time we had finished talking, it had reached sunset. We were very lucky that there were no classes after lunch. I gazed out at sea, staring at the fire in the sky.

"Erika, I think we should go," Alexis told me.

"Can we leave after sunset?" I asked. "Please?"

Alexis sighed. "Okay but it's your fault if we get in trouble."

"I don't think we'd get in trouble for being out at this time," Zane told Alexis. "It's when it's after dark when the teachers get mad."

I just sighed and continued to stare out at sea. "Oh sunsets are so romantic! One day I'm gonna watch one with my true love."

Alexis looked surprised. "Are you a romantic or something Erika?"

I nodded. "I always have been ever since I was little. I'm not like Jasmine and Mindy who are caught up in paring people up. I'm the romantic that dreams of romantic views and sharing them with my true love."

I got a little surprised about what I had said and who I realised I had told. "Uh, sorry guys," I said. "That was a bit too deep huh."

Alexis giggled. "Just remind me to find your true love for you so you can tell him all this."

I laughed and looked over at Zane. He seemed to be gazing out at the setting sun, lost in thought.

I smiled. "Are you having fun there Zane?"

He looked at me surprised. He just smiled at me.

I couldn't help but blush. I hadn't ever seen Zane smile like that before. He looked more handsome than he did normally, if that was possible. I shouldn't say that about my friend, but it was true. The sun was mixed in with his eyes, making them look golden instead of blue.

I heard Alexis giggle. She pulled me up. "Let's get going. Jasmine and Mindy are probably waiting for us."

"Okay then," I said. "See you later, Zane!"

"Bye Zane!" Alexis said kindly.

"Bye you two," he said calmly.

"Is that true?" Jasmine said with her eyes focused on me.

"Or is Alexis lying?" Mindy said.

I felt rather awkward. Both Jasmine and Mindy were staring at me. I blushed. "No, I was just... Uh looking in that direction..."

"You were staring at him weren't you!?" Mindy said surprised.

"You like Zane!" Jasmine chimed. "Erika likes Zane! Erika likes Zane!"

I folded my arms and pouted. "He's my best friend and that's all. He was just smiling. He looks so different when he smiles."

"You looked like you were in love with him or something," Alexis joked. "It was so cute!"

"Oh don't you start Alexis!" I told her. "I only like him as a friend and nothing else okay?"

"You'll say that now but I bet you'll start to change your opinion on him," Mindy told me. "Remember, the cards!"

I rolled my eyes. "You made that up – it's not real."

"Whatever you say, Erika," she said. "The cards don't lie."

I couldn't help but laugh at what they were saying. But I wondered most about what Alexis thought. Did she like him?

I looked at Alexis. "Do you like Zane? Is that why you pulled me up?"

"I'm in love with duelling," she told me. "Plus Zane is like another brother to me. I pulled you up as I didn't want to watch you fall in love with him."

"I was not falling in love with him!" I said in defence.

Gosh these girls are annoying now. Then again, I was the one looking at him. I was just struck by how cute he was when he smiled. I couldn't tell them that otherwise I wouldn't hear the end of it.

I woke up to Alexis giggling the next morning.

"Good morning!" She said happily. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yeah I did," I told her. "What about you?"

"Yeah," she said, trying not to giggle. "I could tell you had a good sleep."

"Uh why?" I asked.

She giggled. "You mentioned Zane's name a lot."

I blushed. It was true though. I dreamed about Zane last night. The thing was we were duelling and he was beating me! It was so evil! In the end I won so it was a great dream.

"Yeah, you kept saying things like 'Zane!' or "be nice Zane'."

Alexis had a giggling fit. I bet she thought I was having very...um... 'Inappropriate' dreams about him.

"If you must know, I dreamt about duelling him. He was beating me hard core but then I turned it around and won. That's when I woke up," I told her. "One part was weird because I wanted him to let me win."

She thought about it for a while. "It does make sense. You could be frustrated with him in not going easy on you. I've heard you say that in duels with Mindy and Jasmine."

I laughed a little. "I only say it as a joke usually."

"I believe that you don't like him Erika," Alexis confessed. "I just love teasing you with Jasmine and Mindy!"

"Oh you're such a nice friend Alexis!" I said sarcastically.

"Thanks lots!" She said as a joke.


	11. The Queen of Obelisk Blue

**Chapter 11:**

It was around late October. Exams were nearly approaching so every chance I got, I decided to study. I HAVE to beat Zane! I just have to!

As I studied in the library, I heard footsteps approaching from behind me. They stopped suddenly.

"There you are Erika. Why aren't you duelling?"

I turned around and saw Zane standing in front of me. I was slightly confused.

"Why would I be duelling?" I asked him. "No one has challenged me yet."

"It's a duel to see who the Queen of Obelisk Blue is," he told me. "Whoever wins all of their duels will be crowned the Queen of Obelisk Blue."

I was shocked. "Now why didn't anyone tell me this?"

He shrugged. "Maybe you were too caught up in your studies. People haven't seen you duel in a while."

I then remembered my fan club, which had three new members. They would be disappointed in me if I didn't duel. Plus Jake would flip out at me if I didn't give it a go.

"Is it too late to sign up?" I asked.

"Unfortunately," he said. "It would've been good to see you and Alexis duel."

Alexis and me duel? Now that would've been something to look forward to!

"Awww Zane! I want to duel!" I complained. "I want to face Alexis."

"First it's me, now Alexis. Who don't you want to duel?"

I gave him a smile. "Honestly, I'd love to duel everyone in this academy – including you!"

He smirked. "Do you want to come and watch the duels?"

"Of course," I said with a smile.

I clipped my notes back into my blue ring binder, shut it and then packed up my pens. I put my deck back in the pocket of my skirt. "Can I put these away first?" I asked.

"Sure," he said with the calm tone he always had in his voice.

As we walked to my locker I decided to tell Zane something.

"You know," I began. "I had this dream where we duelled."

"What happened?" He asked curiously.

"You were winning at the start but I turned the duel around and won."

Zane smirked. "It's good to have dreams," he told me. "Too bad when we duel I'll be the one winning."

"Stop being mean to me," I said as a joke as I lightly punched him in the arm with my arm that was free.

After I put my stuff away, Zane and I went in search of the duelling arena that Alexis was duelling at.

"Isn't it in the Obelisk Blue duelling arena?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Obelisk Blue is using all of the duelling arenas in the school so we can get the duels over by the end of today."

"What about Ra Yellow, Slifer Red and the boys in Obelisk Blue?" I asked.

"Today's a day off," he reminded me.

"Oh that's right," I said just realising that I took my days off to study.

At the moment it was nearing the end of the summer holidays. Most students decided to go back home to spend it with friends and family but some of us decided to stay here and continue studying for our exams in November. We only have summer holidays and Christmas holidays compared to normal schools. You could say that we only have two terms instead of four but we have an equal amount of holidays when we have them. It doesn't bother me. I love duelling so it's fun for me. By the looks of it, all the girls from Obelisk Blue stayed at school.

"Do you know which duelling area she's duelling on?" I asked Zane.

"I think she was duelling on the main duelling arena," he told me.

We began walking towards that area. One random question was bugging me.

"Hey, Zane, do you guys have a competition to find the King of Obelisk Blue?" I asked.

He laughed. "No."

I smiled. "You should."

"Yeah, it would be fun to defeat all the guys in Obelisk Blue."

"But then again, there's more boys than girls in this academy," I said, deciding to bring out the statistics.

"That's a good point," Zane said. "It's probably because normally all of the female Obelisk Blue students stay here over the summer holidays."

"True."

We arrived at the duelling arena just as the duel had finished.

"What good timing," I told him sarcastically. "So what round is this?"

"It's the semi-finals," he replied.

We walked up to the arena as soon as Alexis was leaving it.

"Congrats!" I said to her as I gave her a hug.

She looked at me seriously. "Now tell me why it isn't you I'm facing in the finals."

I looked sadly at her. "I'm sorry Alexis but I didn't know about this."

She folded her arms. "I guess it's okay then."

I sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"Next time, I won't forgive you," she said with a smile on her face.

In a matter of minutes, Alexis had won her next duel which made her Queen of Obelisk Blue.

"Do you have any words to say?" The teacher asked Alexis.

"Yeah I have a few," she told them.

"Go on then," the teacher told her.

"First, I'm not going to be the Queen of Obelisk Blue," she announced.

A lot of students gasped, including me. How could she not be the queen? She won fair and square!

"Second, I'll only accept this title if I can defeat the best female duellist in the academy – Erika Dark."

I felt put on the spot. Zane looked at me and I looked at the person sitting beside me as if they were me. Unfortunately, this person was a guy and I was the only female Obelisk Blue student that hadn't duelled.

I decided to approach the stage.

"Alexis! What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm challenging you to a duel Erika," she told me. "To see who the Queen of Obelisk Blue really is."


	12. A True Angel

**Chapter 12:**

I smirked at Alexis. "Yeah, I'll duel you now if you want."

As I walked upon the duelling platform, I heard a small crowd yell out 'go Erika!' I looked in their direction and saw my fan club. Sure it was weird for people to like me like they did but I really did respect them all.

Suddenly, I realised that I didn't have my duel disk! I completely freaked out.

"Uh... One problem," I said. "I don't have a duel disk."

"Here, use mine," a female voice said.

I looked at her. It was the girl who Alexis just defeated.

She handed me her duel disk. I gave her a smile. "Thank you very much."

I strapped the duel disk onto my arm. I took out my deck, approached Alexis and handed her my deck. "Your shuffle."

We exchanged decks so we could shuffle our opponent's deck. We then handed them back after shuffling them thoroughly.

"Good luck," I said to her as I went back to my end of the arena.

"Likewise," she replied. "Let's have some fun!"

"Now you're talking!" I said as I got my duel disk ready and put my deck in its slot.

"Let's duel!" We said at the same time.

"You can go first," I told her. "You are the challenger."

"Okay then," she said as she drew a card. "I play Etoile Cyber in attack mode."

A woman with long brown hair appeared on the duelling platform. She wore a tutu and had bits of red covering her pale blue skin. She looked like a pretty ballerina. I saw that she had 1200 attack points and 1600 defence points.

"I'll play two face downs and end my turn," Alexis declared. She slotted two cards into the spell and trap card zone on her duel disk. The two cards appeared face down in front of her.

I loved this holographic technology. Maybe I should make my own fan club on its inventor and founder of the school. Gosh he's so cool! He's such a good duellist! And I love his monsters – a whole deck of-

"Hey, Erika, it's your move now," Alexis said as I snapped out of my daydream.

"Thanks," I said as I drew my card.

I looked in my hand. The deck I had on me was my wind deck. In my hand were simple cards such as Elegant Egotist and Harpies Pet Dragon. I already knew that I was going to play the card I just drew.

"I summon Harpie Lady 1 in attack mode!" I declared.

A woman with long red hair flew down to the playing field. She had arms with green feathers, wings. In the place of hands, she had long and sharp claws like a hawk. I always thought that she was a rather pretty creature.

"Erika! She only has 1300 attack points!" Alexis warned me.

I smirked. "No she doesn't. My Harpie Lady's ability increases the attack of all wind monsters by 300 points."

Harpie Lady's attack suddenly rose from 1300 to 1600.

"I'll then play the spell card Elegant Egotist," I declared as I placed the face up spell card into the spell and trap card zone. I then searched through my deck for a card, found it, and then shuffled my deck again. "I special summon Harpie Lady Sisters from my deck!"

As I placed a card on my monster card zone, three more Harpie Lady's appeared. One looked like the one that was already on the field, the second had short orange hair and the third had spiky blue hair. All three ladies were wearing golden armour. This card had 1950 attack and 2100 defence points.

"And thanks to my first Harpie Lady, these three lovely ladies gain 300 attack points making their attack rise to 2250," I told Alexis. "I'll attack your Etoile Cyber with my first Harpie Lady!"

Harpie Lady 1 swooped in to claw Alexis' Etoile Cyber. Suddenly Alexis placed an arm out to the field.

"You activated my trap card – Dobl Passé!" She declared.

A pink trap card revealed itself.

"It allows your Harpie Lady to attack my life points directly instead of my Etoile Cyber. My Etoile Cyber then can attack your life points directly."

My Harpie Lady swooped passed Etoile Cyber and went straight for Alexis. Her claws slashed her. Alexis flinched as her life points went down from 4000 to 2400.

I saw Etoile Cyber swiftly move towards me. She did a twirl then came in and kicked me before going back to her side of the field.

"Oh and in the damage step, Etoile Cyber's attack damage raises by 500, giving you 1700 points of damage," Alexis informed me.

My life points went down from 4000 to 2300.

"Did you see how she didn't flinch when Alexis' monster attacked her directly?" I heard a guy say. "I've only seen Zane be able to do that."

I smirked a little. Since I knew that we had something in common with our duelling made me confident in this duel.

"I think I'll attack your Etoile Cyber with my Harpie Lady Sisters," I told Alexis, ignoring her second face down card.

The Harpie Lady Sisters swooped in and together launched a beam towards Etoile Cyber, causing her to shatter into pieces.

"I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to bring my Etoile Cyber back from the graveyard," Alexis declared as her life points went down from 2300 to 1350.

Etoile Cyber appeared back onto the field.

"I'll play two cards face down and end my turn," I told Alexis as I placed two cards face down in my spell and trap card zone.

Alexis drew her card. "I'll play Blade Skater in attack mode."

A purple woman appeared on the field. She wore a tutu and had skates for feet.

"I'll activate the spell card polymerization and fuse her with Etoile Cyber to create Blade Skater."

Both of Alexis' monsters disappeared and fused together to create a monster with purple hair. She wore a tutu and pink shades covering her eyes. Like Blade Skater, she had blades for feet.

I remembered seeing this monster when I first met Alexis. It was the monster which she had defeated the teacher with.

"Since you have two monsters on the field, Blade Skater's attack is doubled to 4200," Alexis informed.

I heard people gasp. I looked into the audience. Most people looked as if the duel was just about to end. I saw Zane. He looked as if he knew I had something up my sleeve.

"I'll attack your Harpie Lady Sisters with my Blade Skater and end the duel," Alexis declared.

Blade Skater put her arm up. It suddenly changed into a fully armed cannon. I smirked.

"Sorry Alexis, but I'm no pushover," I said. "I activate my trap card – Negate Attack."

A vortex appeared in front of my monster. Blade Skater launched her attack. The beam went straight into the vortex and disappeared.

Alexis looked disappointed but somehow impressed. "I hate you, Erika," she said as a joke.

"I love you too," I replied, as a joke, back.

"It's your turn Erika."

"Thanks," I said as I drew a card.

"I'll activate the spell card Pot of Greed," I declared.

A green pot appeared on the field.

"As you know, it lets me draw two cards from my deck," I said as I drew two cards.

As I gazed at my cards, a smirk hit my face. I just drew my ace card – and now it was time to summon it.

"I sacrifice Harpie Lady 1 and Harpie Lady Sisters to summon Simorah, Bird of Divinity!" I said as I sent my first two monster cards to the graveyard and placed my new monster on the monster card zone.

A large green bird flew down to the field. It glistened like gold. Its impressive look matched its attack power – 2700 attack and 1000 defence points.

"I'll attack your Cyber Blader," I declared.

Simorah launched a strong storm of wind at Cyber Blader. Alexis' life points depleted to 750 but Cyber Blader remained on the field – her effect meant that she couldn't be destroyed by a monster's effect as long as Erika had at least one monster on the field.

"I'll end by playing another face down," I declared.

Alexis drew a card. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two cards."

She drew the top two cards from her deck. She took one of them and played it on the field. "I summon Cyber Tutu in defence mode."

A girl with pink hair, also wearing a tutu, appeared on the field defending herself.

"I'll switch Cyber Blader into defence mode and end my turn by setting two cards face down."

"_Damn,"_ I thought. _"If she didn't set those two cards, Simorah's effect would have depleted her life points down to zero!"_

"Let's go!" I said as I drew a card. "I'll attack Cyber Tutu with Simorah."

"I'll activate Negate Attack," Alexis declared as a pink trap card rose on her side of the field.

In the same way as I had negated Cyber Blader's attack, Alexis did that to Simorah's.

"Okay, I'll end my turn," I said with a smile.

Alexis drew her card and smirked. "I'm going to destroy your Simorah in this turn."

I smiled. "Try your best."

"I summon Cyber Gymnast in attack mode," Alexis declared.

I was surprised that she summoned that monster. It only had 800 attack and 1800 defence points – it would be better to play her in defence.

"First I activate my trap card – reckless greed which allows me to draw two cards." Alexis said as she drew two cards.

"I'll activate Cyber Gymnast's effect now," Alexis declared. "By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy a face up attack positioned monster on your field."

Simorah disappeared. I felt rather annoyed that my ace card could be destroyed so easily.

"I'll switch all of my monsters into attack mode and attack you directly."

As all of Alexis' monsters went to launch their attacks, I raised my arm in front of me.

"I'll activate my trap card – Negate attack."

It was very handy having Negate Attack in my deck. I had three of them.

Alexis was slightly annoyed – it was twice that I prevented her from winning the duel. "It's your turn."

I drew my card. "I'll activate my face down trap – Hysteric Party. It allows me to discard one card. If I do this I can special summon as many Harpie Lady Cards from the graveyard as I can."

I discarded one card from my hand to special summon Harpie Lady 1 to the field. She had 1600 attack and 1400 defence, thanks to her effect.

"I think I'll attack your Cyber Tutu," I declared.

Harpie Lady destroyed Cyber Tutu and depleted Alexis' life points to 150.

"Erika! You could've won!" She yelled.

"I know," I told her. "Find a way to win next turn otherwise I promise that I will win in my next turn."

"Okay then," Alexis said as she started her turn. She wasn't allowed to draw a card because of Reckless Greed's effect. "I'll play a face down. Then I'll attack your Harpie Lady with Cyber Blader and then attack you directly with Cyber Gymnast."

Cyber Blader sent Harpie Lady 1 to the graveyard while Cyber Gymnast attacked directly. Yet again, the attack didn't make me flinch a bit. My life points went down to 1000.

"Your turn Erika," she said.

I drew a card. "This is where it ends. I play the field spell Harpies Hunting Ground"

I placed the field spell card in its slot. I then discarded a card from my hand.

"I activate the continuous trap Hysteric Party to special summon my Harpie Lady 1 and Harpie Queen," I said.

"But her name isn't Harpie Lady!" Alexis said. "You can't special summon her from the grave!"

I smirked. "Yeah I can, Harpie Queen's ability allows her to be called Harpie Lady when she's on the field or in the graveyard."

Both Harpies flew back onto the field. Harpie Queen's long emerald hair glistened and her pure white wings shined like an angels.

"Thanks to Harpies' hunting ground, two of your spell and trap cards are discarded to the graveyard since I special summoned two Harpie Ladies."

Alexis sent both of her cards to the graveyard.

"Thanks to Harpies' Hunting Ground, my Harpies get a bonus 200 attack and defence plus the 300 attack from Harpie Lady 1."

Harpie Lady 1's attack rose to 1800 while her defence rose to 1600. Harpie Queen's attack rose to 2400 and her defence to 1400. Since I had two monsters on the field, Cyber Blader's attack doubled to 4200 but there was still Cyber Gymnast in attack mode.

"This was a fun duel Alexis," I confessed. "No one has lowered my life points that long before."

"It was fun!" Alexis admitted with a smile.

"Okay! Let's go Harpie Queen Attack Cyber Gymnast!"

As Harpie Queen destroyed the monster, Alexis' life points depleted to zero.

Alexis smiled. "You win. You're the Queen of Obelisk Blue."

"No," I confessed. "I didn't defeat those other girls – you did. It wouldn't be fair. Plus you'd be better at the job description."

I smiled at Alexis who looked surprised at my words. She smiled back. "Well you're definitely the Angel of Obelisk Blue."


	13. Study Study Study

**Chapter 13:**

"So you're saying that I should use a quick play trap card like this to counter this kind of card?" Tom asked as he looked at his cards.

It was a month until exams were here so I was helping him, Mike, Danny, Richie and Nikki study. I'd been helping them for a couple of weeks along with other students from other dorms. They may not be in my fan club but they seemed to be struggling with studying. Sure I had my own to do but I studied while I helped them.

"Okay, this is an easy one," I told them. "Let's say you played the spell card De-Fusion to de-fuse your opponent's fusion monster when they called for it to attack. Your opponent activates the trap card Magic Jammer. What would be a good card to counter it with?"

"Well you can't use spell cards to counter a trap card," Richie stated.

"Magic Jammer is a counter trap right?" Mike asked.

"You tell me," I said.

"Oh! You have to use another counter trap to counter it," Nikki stated. "Since you're countering the card, it will bring it into spell speed three?"

I shrugged. "Do you think so?"

"That's right! So why don't we use a card like Seven Tools of the Bandit?" Tom asked. "That card can only be countered by another counter trap card."

"Is that the best card you can use?" I asked.

They all thought for a moment. Danny then looked like he had a good idea.

"You could use Trap Jammer. That way, you won't lose any life points," he said.

"Very good," I told them. "You're definitely improving. Just remember to write down all the details – it could get you extra marks. If that was in your exam you could say the cards that you could use and explain why this card is better to use than that card."

"Thanks for helping us," Nikki said. "Alexis is right – you really are the Angel of Obelisk Blue."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"You're helping us out when you don't have to for one," Tom said.

"And plus you're a kind person," Nikki said with a smile.

I blushed and smiled. "Thanks."

After I finished tutoring them, I went back to my locker to grab some revision material for my tutoring of a couple of Obelisk Blue students.

"Hey Erika," A voice said as I approached my locker.

There, leaning against my locker was no other than Atticus Rhodes. I was surprised that he remembered who I was, considering lots of girls were constantly flocking him. It was weird to find he was by himself.

His dark brown eyes sparkled mischievously as he gave me a smirk. "Wanna hang out today?"

I sighed. "Sorry Atticus but I'm busy today."

He frowned. "Why's that?"  
"I'm tutoring other students for the next couple of weeks," I explained.

He walked a little closer towards me. "Why don't you tutor me one on one?"

I blushed. He laughed and gave me a cheesy smile.

"I'm just kidding Erika," he said as he put his arm around me. "You should've seen your face."

I glared at him. "You're so mean!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, but you have to love me!"

Before I could say a word, someone else approached.

"Atticus, I think you shouldn't put your arm around her."

Atticus looked towards the figure and smirked. I blushed.

"Are you jealous Zane?" He asked curiously.

"No, it's just Jake's heading this way," Zane explained.

Atticus instantly dropped his arm and put both hands in his pockets. He looked back towards me.

"Are you okay Erika?" He asked. "You look a little flustered."

I could feel my face get slightly hotter. "Yeah I'm fine."

In truth, my heart was beating rapidly. I had no idea why.

Just then, Jake walked passed. He turned and gave me a friendly grin. "Hey little sis, what's up?"

"Hey Jake," I said with a smile. "I'm just hanging out with Zane and Atticus. Gonna go and tutor some students soon. What about you?"

"Just heading back to the dorms," he confessed. He glanced at both Zane and Atticus. "I don't like you hanging out with guys."

I laughed. "You have to be joking!"

He gave me a grin. "Of course. These two are okay. Any other guys and I'll beat them up."

I smiled sheepishly as he walked away. I suddenly turned to Atticus.

"Are you scared of Jake or something?" I asked.

"There's a reason why we call him Mr. Samurai," he said.

I laughed. "Why?"

"He's a great fighter," Atticus confessed. "I wouldn't want to fight him ever. Plus he's my friend."

Zane laughed. "Yeah, and you hit on his sister."

"I was just joking around," Atticus confessed. "She knows that."

Zane looked over in my direction. I gave him a nod.

"Well I'd love to stand here and chat but I've got to help some people out," I explained. "I'll see you two later."

We said our goodbyes when I went off to meet up with the Obelisk Blue students with my notes in hand.

It was quite fun studying with a group of students. Although I knew a lot more than they did, it was great to have a discussion about the stuff. Plus we did go off the subject a lot so it wasn't all work and no play. We also had a couple of fun duels.

"I see what he did wrong in you duel," a girl by the name of Maria said after I finished a duel against another student, Lance. "You were defenceless a couple of times with no traps."

"I know," Lance complained. "I didn't have any in my hand.

"But you did have good counter traps," I confessed. "You're monster combos were fantastic too. They matched your trap cards and your spell cards. You have a great strategy."

"You know my strategies?" He asked.

"Yeah I do," I confessed. "I've studied duelling thoroughly before I started school. I'm very passionate about duelling."

Gosh I sound like a nerd! I'm always studying and hoping for fantastic results... Don't I have a life?

"I don't like this part of the year," I heard Jasmine complain as I entered Alexis' and my room.

"Why's that?" I asked. "Let me guess, exams?"

"Hi Erika," Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy said at the same time as they looked in my direction.

"No actually," Jasmine replied, to my surprise. "It's just that he's leaving."

I gave her a smile. "No, he's staying behind for another year," I told her. "He is in his second year here."

Jasmine's eyes lit up and Mindy's along with it. "Yay!" They both shouted in sync.

I approached Alexis. "I bet they'll be over him next year," I whispered. "There'll be a new guy that they'll like."

Alexis nodded. "That sounds right."

"Do you guys want to go and have some fun?" I asked. "I think I'm too boring."

"I'd love to!" Mindy said, instantly putting down her stuff.

"Mindy, you need to study," Jasmine said, pulling her back down.

"Sorry Erika," Mindy said. "I have to study."

"How about a duel?" I asked. "Then we can discuss what was effective and what wasn't. It would be more fun to learn that way."

Alexis looked surprised. "That's true. Sure, I'll take you on, again."


	14. Exams Volume 1

**Chapter 14:**

November finally crept upon us along with exams. Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy and I did some last minute cramming. Alexis and I did it just to be safe but Jasmine and Mindy did it to remember!

We first years got called in first. I was fine – I already covered everything and remembered it all. I was confident but had a slight nervousness in the back of my mind.

'Good luck' was the sentence that everyone was saying, including me. We all went silent as we entered the room where we took our exams.

I sat down at my desk and stared at the exam papers. We weren't allowed to open them until nine – in fifteen minutes. I arranged my pens in a tidy manner.

First we had our theory exams and then practical an hour after we leave the exam room. Our theory exams lasted for three hours and the practical was against fellow students. Teachers kept watch on our duels and marked us on our performance.

"You may open your papers," the teacher in charge said. "The exam begins now."

An hour and a half into the exam and I had already finished and went over my work. One question had me confused. I guessed it was the hardest in the exam – it was the last question after all.

I left the exam two hours in after re checking my answers half a dozen times. I was already pared up with another student who had left the exam room before me. In an hour I'd be duelling whoever it was.

It was a long hour before I was called to duel. I suddenly felt nervous. In theory I was great but duelling was a different story. Why did it make me nervous? I always have this feeling that perhaps my opponent is better than me.

I looked at my deck. Fairywitch was at the top. This was my best deck. The one with Chimeratech Overdragon. I couldn't risk using no other deck than my best.

I approached the stage and my opponent. I was surprised when I found out who I was facing.

"Alexis!?" I gasped. "I'm facing you?"

Alexis smiled. "This time, give me your all. I'll win this time. Third time lucky."

I smiled. "You're on."

Alexis gave me a smirk as she had her Cyber Blader on the field. I had two monsters; Cyber Dragon and Proto-Cyber Dragon, on the field, in defence mode, which made Cyber Blader's effect double her attack to 4200.

"I'll attack your Cyber Dragon with Cyber Blader," Alexis commanded.

The female monster sent a blast directly at my machine, making it shatter into thousands of pieces.

"Then I'll attack your Proto-Cyber Dragon with Etoile Cyber," she continued.

Etoile Cyber then swiftly and gracefully destroyed my second monster. I smiled.

"I'll place two cards face down and end my turn," Alexis stated.

"My turn," I declared as I drew my card. I gazed at it and couldn't help but smirk.

"I'll activate the spell card Giant Trunade to sweep your two face-down cards back to your hand."

Alexis picked up her two face-down cards and put them into her hand. I put another spell card into my spell and trap card zone face up after putting Giant Trunade into the graveyard.

"I activate the spell card Overload Fusion," I declared. "I remove from flay, from the graveyard, three Cyber Dragons, three Proto-Cyber Dragons, Cyber Phoenix, two Cyber Kirins, Cyber Laser Dragon and Machine King to fusion summon Chimeratech Overdragon."

I removed all the cards I had said from play and put the fusion card in attack mode on the duel disk. A dragon looking creature arose from nowhere. It appeared to be made from metal. It had six heads and a long tail with two sharp spikes at the end. It had no arms, legs or wings like a normal dragon does but the six heads looked dragonish.

Alexis smiled. "So this is your ultimate monster I've heard so much about?"

I smiled back. "Yeah, although I have to discard every card on my side of the field it's worth it to summon this monster. Its attack is 800 times the amount of monsters I used to summon it – which is eleven. It brings its attack and defence to an amazing 8800."

Alexis gasped. "That's one powerful monster!"

I nodded. "That's not all. I'll play the spell card Limiter Removal to double its attack again to bring it up to 17600!"

Alexis smile. "Well, you've won, again."

I smiled. "Go attack Chimeratech Overdragon!"

In a single blast, Chimeratech Overdragon attacked both monsters and depleted the remainder of Alexis' life points to zero.

"You're a great duellist, Alexis," I said. "That was a great match."

She smiled. "Likewise."

I looked over towards the teacher who just stared in amazement.

Alexis smirked. "Well we know what grade he'll give you."


	15. A Challenge

**Chapter 15:**

A week later and we got our results back. I saw that I got an A+ in my duelling exam but when it came to the theory exam results...

"Erika, what's wrong?" Alexis asked.

"I g-got o-one wrong..." I said in disbelief.

Alexis gasped and looked at my results. "No one got that question right."

I felt devastated. There was no way I could beat Zane with these results....

"It's okay," Alexis said. "It's only one mark. You still got an A+"

I smiled. "You're right Alexis."

The list of everyone in the academy's overall scores appeared on a board. The person who had the best overall score was allowed to challenge anyone in the academy to a duel. This duel would be on the last day of school and the biggest match of the year.

I gazed at the list. My name fell second. I felt a rush of blood to the head when I saw who the top scorer was.

"Zane Truesdale," I said. "Typical."

Alexis giggled. "Jealous?"

"Nah," I replied honestly. "I did the best for me."

"I can't believe in two days we'll all leave the academy for the holidays," Mindy said in disbelief.

I nodded as I began to get ready for bed. "It's sad huh."

"We'll have to keep in touch during the holidays," Alexis said.

"Yeah," Jasmine replied. "Let's hang out sometime!"

"Even though we all are in the same room, why don't we have a proper sleepover party?" I asked.

I pulled out some speakers out of my bag, hooked up my iPod to them and started playing some music.

"Awesome idea," Jasmine said.

"I love this song!" Mindy cheerfully said as she began to sing along.

"Let's dance then," Alexis said, lightening up the mood.

After a good five minutes of dancing and singing, we heard a knock at the door.

Mindy turned the already quiet music down just a bit more. "I'm sure we're not that loud."

"I'll get it," I said happily as I skipped to the door.

As I opened the door a little to see who it was, my smile turned into a shocked look. My face turned as red as a tomato as I saw Zane standing on the other side.

"W-What are you doing here Zane?" I asked as I opened the door more. I felt incredibly embarrassed that I was in my PJ's – especially since it was a spaghetti strapped top and very short shorts. I heard Jasmine and Mindy giggle.

"Its okay, Miss Fontaine let me come here," he replied. "You're a great duellist so I was wondering if you'd like to duel me for the last match for the school year."

I leaned against the door frame. "Are you challenging me to a duel?" I was sure I heard Jasmine cough the word 'flirt'.

He smirked. "I couldn't think of another duellist that could possibly defeat me other than you."

I blushed. "Okay, I'll duel you."

Zane smiled. "Well I'll leave you guys alone now. Good night."

I smiled. "Good night Zane."

He did a double take and smiled. "Oh and by the way, nice PJ's."

I knew he was being cheeky but I couldn't help but go red.

As I closed the door, Jasmine and Mindy were laughing at me.

"Why are you so red?" Jasmine asked.

"Why did I have to be in my PJ's?" I asked myself aloud.

Mindy giggled. "Someone's embarrassed!"

"Damn right," I replied as I sat on my bed.

"Why's that?" She asked curiously.

"Well, for one, he's a guy and it's kind of embarrassing since I'm supposed to be a respected duellist," I tried to explain; knowing nothing I said made sense. "I don't think a respected duellist wants to be seen by someone who is better than them in their PJs!"

"Someone has a crush on Zane!" Jasmine chimed.

I was starting to regret my idea of a sleepover. To change the subject, I decided to do something weird... Something Jasmine and Mindy would probably do.

"I love this song!" I said as the song changed. "Let's dance!"

I jumped up and pulled Jasmine into dance. She looked rather surprised but didn't complain about how I had lightened up the mood. Mindy then followed in to dance along with Alexis.

Although it was early for a sleepover, we all decided to go to sleep at eleven. I saw that Jasmine and Mindy fell asleep pretty quickly with Alexis a couple of seconds behind them. Me? I couldn't sleep. So much was running through my mind... Leaving Duel Academy in two days, the duel that would test all my hard work in two days, all the new friends I had made... Alexis, Atticus, Jasmine, Mindy, Tom, Mike, Danny, Richie, Nikki, James, Blake, Kyle, Shane, Mark, Tania, Joe, Shawn, Amanda....... Zane......

I don't know why but I just couldn't stop thinking about Zane. He became a really close friend of mine. Even though I was so determined to be better than him, I just can't help but.....

"Are you STILL awake?" I heard a voice whisper.

I instantly jumped and looked over next to me. I saw Alexis, who appeared to be half asleep.

"Oh Alexis you gave me a fright!" I whispered.

"Sorry!" She replied apologetically. "Are you okay?"

"Just thinking," I told her.

"About...?"

Just in case Jasmine and Mindy would wake up, I decided to tell her the partial truth.

"Stuff," I replied. "Like the last day of school, the last duel, all my new friends..."

She smiled. "It's hard to believe huh!"

"I just wonder if I'll be able to see each one of them in the holidays," I replied honestly. "I'll miss you all a lot."

Suddenly awake, Alexis sat up in bed. "Yeah it's hard when you've all become so close. I try to think of it like we'll see each other when we come back."

I smiled. "That's a good approach... But I just can't help but miss you all already even though you're right here."

"I'll come visit you, okay?" Alexis said with a smile. "Then I'll give you a duel!"

"Awesome!" I replied enthusiastically. I then went back to a whisper after realising that Jasmine and Mindy were still asleep. "Thanks Alexis."

"No problem," she replied. She then looked back at me and stared. "Is there something else?"

"Kind of," I replied honestly. "I think Jasmine and Mindy are getting to my head."

Alexis thought for a little while. She then suddenly giggled. "Him?"

I nodded. "He's inspired me to be someone better by just being himself and without even doing anything, really. I just can't stop thinking about him..."

"Maybe it's just that you've thought about him for so long that you've only noticed how you have thought about him?" She asked.

"Probably," I replied. I knew it wasn't love or anything. The guy's my best friend! "I just want to beat him so bad!"

Alexis giggled. "You're way too competitive!"

I smiled. "Only with him – I want to be the best in the academy."

"You do realise that's the same goal Zane has too, right?"

I felt shocked. I didn't think about it that way. I always thought he was just naturally good at everything.

I remained awake thinking over things, mainly about the forthcoming duel between Zane and me. The thought of this duel began to make me nervous.


	16. Decisions Decisions

**Chapter 16:**

When I woke up, I saw Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy were already sitting up talking. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Good morning sleepy head!" Mindy chimed. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

"Kind of," I mumbled. "I thought myself to sleep."

Jasmine started to ponder. "How do you do that?"

"Think with your eyes closed I guess," I replied. 'Thinking about stuff was the last thing I can remember."

Alexis giggled. "Do you know how funny that sounds?"

"No, not really," I replied honestly.

Our lessons that day weren't really lessons. We all just got together and duelled. I faced a lot of people from Obelisk Blue. I'm lucky that I've kept my winning streak since I've been here... Touch wood.

"Erika, how did you become such a great duellist?" Tania asked after I had defeated her in a fun duel.

"I honestly don't know," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Even though I'm in Obelisk Blue, I want to be a great duellist," she replied.

I smiled. "Make that your goal and stick with it. I think you're already a great duellist."

"But I want to beat you," she said honestly.

I felt shocked. She reminded me of how I said that to Zane. It's a good feeling that someone wants to be better than you.

"Well, just try your best and maybe you might beat me one day," I told her.

Tania gave me a smile. "Thanks Erika."

After a full day of duelling, I decided to go to the beach to relax a little before a whole night of strategic studying along with packing.

_"I wonder if Atticus is at the beach,"_ I thought. _"It would be nice to see him today. He's always at the beach."_

As I approached the beach, there was no one there. It was a real surprise to see that Atticus wasn't there surfing like he always is.

_"I wonder where he is," _I thought.

A sudden thought of the day I first saw Atticus surfing rushed through my mind. I blushed and shook my head.

I gave a sigh and left for the Obelisk Blue dorms. In truth, I went there to see Atticus. I hadn't seen him around the academy for a while. He's probably busy or something... Maybe chasing around girls or something... To be honest, I was beginning to get worried about him. He had become a friend of mine so it's only natural to worry about your friends

As I walked into the dorm room, I saw Alexis sitting on her bed, staring at a photo frame. I felt as if she was upset.

"Uh, Alexis," I said, to let her know I'd just come in the room. "How are you?"

Yeah, stupid question huh. I wanted to avoid the question 'are you okay?' Because it's obvious the answer would be no. Besides, I hate that question.

Alexis put the frame face-down on her bed. She turned to me and smiled. "Hi Erika, I'm fine. I was just doing... a little packing."

Clearly that was a lie. I decided to play along. If I continued, it would probably be a very touchy subject for Alexis – I didn't really want to make her cry.

"Oh shoot! I guess I've got to start doing that too," I played along. I went into my closet, got out my suit case and started to pack the things that I wouldn't need tomorrow. "I nearly forgot tomorrow was the last day."

"I wish I could stay here," Alexis said honestly. "There's still so much I want to do."

I paused from packing. I had a gut feeling that this had to do with the touchy subject I wanted to avoid for Alexis' sake.

I looked over at Alexis and gave her a smile. "You know you can trust me with anything," I informed her. "I'm your friend and I'll always be here for you."

She smiled. "Thank you Erika."

"No problem!" I replied happily, continuing to pack.

"Erika, don't you also need to prepare for your duel with Zane?" She asked.

I paused from packing again. "Shoot!"

Alexis giggled while I fussed over my indecisiveness: pack or study?

I decided to pack and very quickly too. It was about thirty minutes until I had finished packing. Immediately, I got out my cards and spread them across the floor.

"I've never seen you prepare for a duel like this," Alexis said honestly.

"Well this is the biggest duel I'll have at Duel Academy so far," I replied. "I want it to be a spectacular and fun duel. I also want to win."

I knew Zane had seen my duel at least once. I have two decks. A winged beast Harpie Lady deck and a machine Cyber Dragon deck. I knew he'd think I'd use my machine deck as it was my strongest but had he seen me duel with it?

Alexis stopped packing and watched me fuss over the cards in my deck. "So are you gonna use your machine deck?"

I nodded. "I had an idea of using my light deck or my dragon deck but only my machine deck has cards that can compete with his. Besides, the only card that can defeat his in my other decks is my rarest dragon but it has its downsides."

I already knew Zane's signature move. His goal is to summon all three Cyber Dragons and use the effect of Power Bond to fuse them into Cyber-End Dragon. It then would have 8000 attack points. After he attacks with that monster, I know he'll play the quick play spell card De-fusion to get his three Cyber Dragons back and attack with them. The idea would be to stop him activating his spell cards. I know there's a trap card, Imperial Order, which negates the activation of spell cards but will make me sacrifice 700 life points for each of my standby phases so it can be kept activated. The thing is that I want to summon Chimeratech Overdragon. I would either have to summon it then set the trap, or set the trap and not summon it. If I did summon it, I would risk my monster by being destroyed by a trap card if I attacked. The second idea would also affect me – I wouldn't be able to summon Chimeratech Overdragon.

"Erika, are you okay?" Alexis asked. "It's been an hour and you haven't moved an inch."

I looked up. "Huh?"

"So what's your idea?" Alexis asked.

"I can't tell you," I said truthfully. "You're still a duellist and you'll just use it against me."

She save a sigh and sat down beside me. "Yep, you are too competitive. I can't use it against you. This is your strategy to beat someone else – not mine to defeat you."

I nodded then gave a sigh. "You could go off and tell him."

"I wouldn't," she told me. "I just want to see what Zane will do against a duellist that's in his league."

"Okay," I said, giving in. "I have only one idea. I know that his main strategy is to summon Cyber-End Dragon then de-fuse it to attack with all three Cyber Dragons if he needed to. Instead of attacking the machine head on, my idea will be to destroy it before it's even summoned."

"You mean stopping the fusion?" Alexis asked.

I nodded. "I could play a trap card that can prevent the activation of spell cards but that would also affect me too."

"That's true," Alexis replied.

"There's a monster I could use to destroy any card he activates," I confessed. "But it's not a machine and summoning it would be difficult.

"There's also a spell card that can destroy all machine monsters on the field. That card is dangerous for me as it will destroy my monsters too."

An idea suddenly clicked in my head. "Wait, maybe I could try that."

Alexis gasped. "But you'll destroy your monsters!"

I frowned. "I know, but I have two ideas. I'll go into the duel with both ideas and use whatever when the situation comes."

"Erika! That's risky!" Alexis said in shock. "Relying on luck like that is stupid! You should go in with a clear strategy in mind!"

"True," I replied. "But it also depends on what he's thinking. Knowing Zane, he'll want to end the duel as quick as possible. Having a number of strategies to counter his moves will use up some of my cards, meaning that the probability of drawing the cards I need will increase."

Alexis looked confused. "You're confusing."

I knew what I had said came out differently than what I was thinking. I know that my deck will have an amount of cards that lies between forty and sixty. If I had only one strategy, that would take up three cards at the max, making it a three in forty, at a minimum, and a one in twenty, at a maximum, chance of drawing that card. But the more cards I put in my deck from different strategies would increase the probability of drawing the card that can prevent Zane from summoning his monster. Gosh I'm such a nerd when I think about it! All this probability! All this maths! My determination to defeat Zane is driving me insane! Heh, that rhymes....

Alexis realised what I was thinking. "Wouldn't it be better just to put two of each card in your deck? If you had the minimum amount, forty, it would be a one in ten chance of drawing one. Since you start off with six cards, if one wasn't in your hand, in the next four turns you'll get one."

"But I can't just toy with Zane," I told her. "He's like a duelling assassin!"

_"Hey, the Duelling Assassin sounds pretty cool," _I suddenly thought. _"I want that name."_

"So what will you do?" Alexis asked.


	17. Falling?

**Chapter 17: **

The last day of school finally dwelled upon us. It's the most nerve racking day in my life, so far. Not only did I have to say good bye to all my friends, I also had to duel Zane Truesdale – my best friend and top duellist in the academy. Ever since the day I found out that Zane was the top duellist in the academy, I'd been looking forward to the day that we'd finally duel. Now that day has come, I feel incredibly nervous.

I was waiting for the duel to be announced. Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy had come to see me a little earlier. They told me that they'll cheer for me but also would be cheering for Zane. They wished me luck – I needed that. My fan club, who had just left, said they'd fully support me and wanted me to win. They also wished me luck – I need a lot of that today.

I looked at my deck. On the top was Fairywitch. Sure my deck was made out of machine monsters but I always had to include her. She was my first card after all and we share a special bond.

I looked at my hands and saw how much they were shaking. I wanted to win this duel but to have fun as well.

"Hey," I heard a voice say from behind me.

I wasn't expecting anyone else to come in so I jumped a little and instantly turned around to see who it was. I felt my face go red. I didn't know whether to be annoyed or happy that this person was standing in front of me.

"Zane, what are you doing here?" I asked in a whisper as I hid my deck in my pocket.

"I just thought I'd come to wish you good luck," he said kindly.

I was unsure how to react. Should I be happy that he's being nice? Or should I take it as an insult as if her were saying that I need luck to defeat him?

I decided to remain silent to see if he was about to carry on.

The room was shrouded in an awkward silence.

"I'll take that as a compliment then," I finally replied.

Zane looked at me as if I had doubted him. It made me feel slightly guilty that I thought my best friend would be mean.

"I'm sorry Zane," I said. "I guess Alexis was right. I'm too competitive."

"It's okay to be competitive," he replied. "I've seen way worse than you. You're probably one of the politest duellists I've seen – you respect their play throughout a duel."

I couldn't help but smile and blush at his compliment. "Thanks Zane."

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

"Honestly, I was before but I don't think I am now," I told him. It was true, I wasn't shaking anymore – I was looking forward to this duel once again.

"Well that's good," he replied calmly. "Just think of it as a duel between friends – nothing too serious."

"I don't really think of it as serious," I confessed. "Well, I did, but now I think it is just a duel. Probably like my exam duel."

He nodded. "Well I better get going. The duel will start soon."

I had no idea what was running through my head at this point of time but my heart started to rush as I thought of something I normally did but wouldn't think of giving to him.

"Uh... Zane, hang on a sec."

He turned around and looked back. I approached him and gave him a hug. I could feel my face go hot. I'm sure he didn't see that coming.

I pulled away and gave him a smile. "You don't need luck to win so I'll wish you all the best." I said softly but calmly.

He smiled. "Thanks Erika."

After he left the room, I lay down on the floor. My heart was still racing. Could I have just done that?

_"I can't believe I gave him a hug," _I thought in disbelief. _"I can't believe I gave Zane Truesdale, the most respected duellist and popular guy at Duel Academy a hug..."_

I sat up and thought about my thoughts. "Gaaaaaaaah! I'm acting like Jasmine and Mindy!"

I got my deck out of my pocket and looked at the top card. I gave the monster a glare.

"Fairywitch, this is your entire fault," I told the card quietly. "It's all your fault that I might be falling for Zane Truesdale!!"


	18. The Final Duel

**Chapter 18:**

As I walked out onto the duelling platform, I saw that the whole duelling arena was packed. I was amazed that so many people came to watch the duel.

"Erika!" I heard a group shout.

I looked over in the direction of the voices. I saw my fan club waving at me. Now I felt as if they weren't a fan club, but my friends. I happily waved at them.

I walked over to my side of the arena. As I took my place, I saw someone else approaching the stage. He walked up the stairs and walked towards me.

I hate confessing my feelings, even to myself. When I do this, whenever I see the person I have feelings for, my heart starts to flutter and I feel rather happy to be in their presence. I felt like that at the moment.

I looked into the cold, calm eyes of the man in front of me. He still looked incredibly handsome as he always did.

I blushed as I handed him my deck. He offered me his. I took his cards and started shuffling them.

It was weird, normally I'd talk to the duellist I was duelling. Even though he is my best friend, I didn't say a word to Zane.

He handed me back my cards. I handed his back to him.

"Let's have a good duel!" I told him, smiling.

"Don't hold back," he replied as he went back to his side of the field.

Suddenly, I had a rush of adrenaline I normally did when I was about to duel.

"Hey, you can go first," I said as I gave him a smile.

"No," Zane replied politely, "you can go first."

I paused. "B-But I asked first."

"Like the rule says, ladies should go first," he replied with a smirk.

"Umm..." I said out loud. "I respect my older peers so you should go first."

"Haven't you heard the rule: youngest always goes first?"

I was feeling a little competitive and I was running out of ideas. "You're taller!"

Zane looked unimpressed. "We'll you're shorter."

"But you challenged me so you really should start things off."

Zane smirked. "Wouldn't that mean that I would decide who goes first?"

I couldn't think of a reply. I put on a very sad face and made my eyes water. "I'll cry..."

Zane paused. He looked around a little before looking back at me. "Fine, I'll start..."

"Yay," I said happily. I gave him a smile. "Thank you Zane!"

I saw Zane give a sigh as he drew his first five cards. I'm sure he was thinking either that I was a brat or that crying was blackmail. I'm sure he didn't want to make me cry – which was very sweet.

I slot my deck into my duel disk and got it ready to duel. At the same time, Zane did the same thing.

"Let's make this a good game!" I said, probably sounding overly enthusiastic.

Both of us drew five cards. "Duel!"

Zane drew a card. "I'll summon Proto-Cyber Dragon in attack mode." He declared.

I was amazed that he started off with such a weak monster. It looked like a smaller version of Cyber Dragon with a lot of cables and was darker in colour. It only had 1100 attack points and 600 defence points.

"Why did you start off with that card?" I asked Zane. "I know you have more powerful cards than that."

Zane smirked. "You'll see."

I nodded and let him continue with his turn.

"It's your turn, Erika," he said. "I end my turn."

I turned more serious as I drew my card. I think Zane noticed my sudden personality change. When it becomes my turn, in a duel, I become more serious than before.

I drew a card. "Since you have one monster on the field and I have none, I can special my Cyber Dragon to the field without a sacrifice," I said as I played the machine monster.

I loved the card Cyber Dragon. To me, it looked more like a snake than a dragon. However, it had the sleek face of a dragon. It had no wings like a dragon did, but it did have the spikes. Cyber Dragon is powerful too, 2100 attack points and 1600 defence points.

"Have you been copying my moves?" Zane asked with a smirk on his face.

"NO!" I replied. I was very offended that someone would think I was copying their moves.

"You seem to have the same cards as me."

"Maybe we have the same cards, but I guarantee we have different strategies," I explained. "Haven't you seen me duel before?"

"Yeah but I was expecting the deck you used against Alexis."

I knew Zane was meaning the Harpie Lady/Winged Beast deck. I felt surprised that he hadn't seen me duel with this deck. "Haven't you ever seen me duel with this deck?" I asked.

"No," Zane replied honestly and very straight forward.

"Well, I used this deck in tryouts," I said. "But this is my strongest deck. Even if our strategies are similar, I'm gonna give it my best!!"

Zane gave a smile. "Okay, I'll do the same."

"I'll attack your Proto-Cyber Dragon with my Cyber Dragon," I declared.

Flames gathered in Cyber Dragon's mouth. Quickly, it unleashed it in attack called strident blast. The blast hit Zane's Proto-Cyber Dragon, destroying it instantly. Zane's life point meter dropped from 4000 to 3000.

"And with that, I'll end my turn," I finished.

I heard my friends cheering. "Yay Erika! You're winning!"

Jake turned to the group of excited duellists. "This is just the beginning guys. Zane is the best in the school – he won't go down without a fight."

"This should be one exciting match," Alexis said, looking towards the duelling platform.

Zane drew his card to start off his turn. "I'll special summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode. With no monsters out he requires no sacrifice."

An identical Cyber Dragon appeared on Zane's side of the field. I felt excited as it would be a Cyber Dragon versus Cyber Dragon duel! Like my Cyber Dragon, his one had 2100 attack points and 1600 defence points.

I realised something. "Um... Zane, how do you know what gender Cyber Dragon is?"

Zane looked at me as if that was the most pointless question ever, which is true. "I don't."

"It could be a she," I said smirking.

Zane rolled his eyes. "I'll just set a card face down and end my turn."

"Hey imagine if Erika's Cyber Dragon was female!" Mindy said excitedly.

"Her Cyber Dragon could go out with Zane's Cyber Dragon!" Jasmine carried on.

They both then giggled. "Monsters like their duellists!"

I could hear every word they said, they were sitting front line after all. I looked towards the two girls and gave then a glare. They just waved happily. Luckily, Zane was paying more attention to the duel and didn't hear what they had said. I gave a sigh and focused on the duel.

"I draw," I said, stating the obvious, as I drew my card. "I'll summon Proto-Cyber Dragon in defence mode."

My Proto-Cyber Dragon looked like a smaller version of Cyber Dragon with a lot of cables and was darker in colour. It only had 1100 attack points and 600 defence points.

"I'll think I'll activate this spell card," I said as I played the spell card, Card Destruction. A hologram of the spell card appeared in front of me. "Card Destruction requires the both of us to send our entire hand to the graveyard and then draw how many cards you discarded from your deck."

I sent all four of the cards I had in my hand to the graveyard. I then drew four more. Zane sent all three of the cards in his hand to the graveyard and drew three more.

"I think I'll end my turn now," I decided.

So far, I had four monsters in my graveyard. If I had the chance to summon Chimeratech Overdragon, it would have 3200 attack and defence points. Not enough to defeat Zane's Cyber End Dragon. Besides Overload Fusion wasn't in my hand and a Cyber Dragon wasn't in my graveyard.

Zane drew his card. "I'll play the spell card Monster Reborn to revive my Cyber Dragon that was sent to the graveyard when you played card Destruction," he declared as another Cyber Dragon, with 2100 attack and 1600 defence rose back onto the field. "I'll then activate Polymerization to fuse my two Cyber Dragons into Cyber Twin Dragon."

The two dragons on Zane's field merged together to create a bigger dragon. It looked similar to Cyber Dragon but had two heads instead of one. It had a massive 2800 attack points and 2100 defence points.

"Cyber Twin Dragon's effect allows it to attack twice," Zane told me. "It'll give you twice the trouble."

I smirked. "We'll see."

"Cyber Twin Dragon, attack her Cyber Dragon and Proto-Cyber Dragon with double strident blast," Zane declared.

The moment the double headed monster attacked, both of my monsters on the field were destroyed. I looked at my life points and saw them deplete from 4000 to 3300.

"With that I'll end my turn," he said seriously.

I drew a card. "I'll play the spell card Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck."

I drew two cards, bringing the total cards in my hand to six. I saw that Zane had three cards in his hand.

"Since I have no monsters on the field, I can special summon another Cyber Dragon in defence mode," I declared as the monster appeared on the field with 2100 attack points and 1600 defence points. "Because Cyber Dragon was special summoned, I can also summon Cyber Phoenix to the field in defence position."

A metal bird appeared on the field. It has 1200 attack points and 1600 defence points.

"I think I'll end my turn now," I told Zane.

Zane drew his card. He thought for a while.

"Hey, Zane," I said. "Can we think of nothing else besides summoning Cyber Dragons?"

Zane smirked. "I guess not."

He continued with his turn. "I'll attack your Cyber Dragon and Cyber Phoenix with Cyber Twin Dragon."

As he said those words, Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon unleashed another double strident blast at my monsters. They were immediately destroyed. I didn't flinch but I felt upset that they got destroyed so easily.

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn," Zane informed as a hologram of a face down card appeared on his side of the field.

I drew my card. I immediately thought about the strength of Chimeratech Overdragon. What would it be if I summoned it now?

"Eight, sixteen, twenty-four," I said out loud while counting on my fingers.

"Erika, it's your turn," Zane reminded me.

"Hang on a sec," I told him. "I'm just working something out."

_"Could she be any more obvious!?" _Alexis and Jake both thought. I'm sure they must think I'm stupid.

"I think I'll special summon one last Cyber Dragon," I said as I played my last Cyber Dragon in my deck in defence mode. "And since this was a special summon, I can summon another Proto-Cyber Dragon in defence mode."

Both monsters appeared on the field. I had one more move to do before I ended my turn.

"I'll play the spell card De-Fusion to de-fuse your Cyber Twin Dragon back into two Cyber Dragons."

As soon as De-Fusion was on the field, Cyber Twin Dragon was un-fused back into two Cyber Dragons.

"With that, I'll end my turn," I told Zane.

He drew his card. "Erika, I'm a little bored of your defences. Are you taking this duel seriously?"

"Yeah I am," I told him.

"Is she?" Alexis asked Jake.

Jake had a serious look on his face. "In a serious duel, Erika tricks her opponent into believing she's not being serious when indeed she has a plan."

"I'll attack your Cyber Dragon and Proto-Cyber Dragon with my Cyber Dragons," Zane declared.

His two Cyber Dragons unleashed a deadly strident blast upon my monsters, which were immediately destroyed. That makes ten monsters he's destroyed....

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn," he said.

I drew my card. "Yay!"

Zane looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

"Oops!" I said cutely. "Did I say that out loud?"

I placed a card in the spell and trap zone on my duel disk. "I'll activate the spell card Overload Fusion!"

As soon as I said that, I heard Tom and the gang cheering.

"I'll remove from play three Cyber dragons, three Proto-Cyber Dragons, Cyber Phoenix, Cyber Laser Dragon, Cyber Kirin and Machine King Prototype to summon Chimeratech Overdragon."

A dragon looking creature arose from nowhere. It appeared to be made from metal. It had six heads and a long tail with two sharp spikes at the end. It had no arms, legs or wings like a normal dragon does but the six heads looked dragonish.

"Even though I have to send all of my cards on the field to the graveyard, Chimeratech Overdragon's effect makes it worth it. Its effect means that it gains attack and defence points eight-hundred times the amount of machine monsters used to fuse it," I informed Zane. "I used ten so that brings Chimeratech Overdragon's original attack and defence to a grand total of 8000 points! It also allows me to attack you for each monster used to fuse it, meaning that I can attack you ten times with Chimeratech Overdragon."

Zane smirked. "So that's what you were planning."

I gave him a smile. "Don't get me wrong, I respect each of the monsters that were used to fuse this monster – each of them played an important role."

Zane said nothing. He just smiled kindly.

"I'll attack your Cyber Dragons and end this duel," I told him.

Just then, Zane revealed his face down card. "I'll activate my trap card – Negate Attack."

"Damn!" I said as he negated my monster's attack. "I'll just set two cards and end my turn. It's your move."

He drew his card. I knew I had put him in a tight situation. I could defeat him with just one attack. "I'll play the spell card Polymerization to fuse my two Cyber Dragons on the field with the one in my hand to create Cyber End Dragon."

I started to laugh. Zane looked confused.

"I activate my trap card – Imperial Order!"

Zane looked shocked as I revealed my face down trap card.

"For each of my standby phases, I give up 700 life points. It's a fair exchange for its effect. This continuous trap negates all effects of spell cards."

Zane's Polymerization became useless. His two Cyber Dragons remained on the field.

"So this is your strategy," Zane stated.

"Yeah, to summon my ultimate monster and prevent you from summoning yours," I said.

Zane smirked. "There'll be a time when you won't be able to pay the life points."

I smirked. "You'll see. I also activate my other trap card – Solemn Wishes. This continuous trap gives me 500 life points for each card I draw."

"I'll set one card face down and switch both of my Cyber Dragons to defence mode," Zane said as he shifted his monsters from attack mode to defence mode. "It's your turn."

I drew my card and watched my life point's rise from 3300 to 3800. They then decreased from 3800 to 3100 due to the effect of Imperial Order. "I'll just play a face down and end my turn."

Zane quickly drew his card. "Erika! You didn't attack!?"

I looked surprised. "I didn't?"

"Yeah, you didn't."

"Oops!" I said, fooled by my stupidity.

"Are you concentrating on the duel?"

"Yeah..."

Zane sighed and continued with his turn. "I'll play Cyber Kirin in defence mode."

Cyber Kirin reminds me of a robotic dog. It wasn't a very strong monster as it had only 300 attack points and 800 defence points.

"I'll activate another Solemn Wishes," I declared as I revealed my trap card.

He sighed again. "I'll end my turn."

I drew a card and watched my life point's rise from 3100 to 4100 due to the effect of both Solemn Wishes cards. They then decreased from 4100 to 3400 due to the effect of Imperial Order.

"I won't make the same mistake twice," I declared. "I'll attack your Cyber Kirin then you directly to win the duel!"

"I'll activate Cyber Kirin's effect," Zane declared. "By sacrificing him, all damage I receive becomes zero."

Even though Cyber Kirin was sacrificed, it still didn't stop me from destroying his Cyber Dragons.

I smiled. "Maybe next time but for now I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Zane drew his card. "I'll summon another Cyber Kirin, set one card face down and end my turn."

I drew my card and watched my life point's rise from 3400 to 4400 due to the effect of both Solemn Wishes cards. They then decreased from 4400 to 3700 due to the effect of Imperial Order.

"I'm going to attack your monster," I said, knowing perfectly well that he'd just sacrifice it.

"I'll activate his effect to make the battle damage I receive zero," he said. "Then I'll activate my trap card – Royal Decree."

My eyes widened. I felt like moaning but remained serious. "Damn it!"

Zane gave a smirk. "I was wondering when your friendliness would go away."

"_Damn you Zane! You had to destroy my perfect strategy didn't you?" _I thought to myself. I then gave him a smile. "I hate you."

He gave another smirk. "I love you too."

Out of all of my taunts I gave in the past, he had to use that one didn't he? Although I knew perfectly well that he wasn't serious, I couldn't help but blush.

I shook my head. "Just go!"

He laughed a little. "You didn't attack – again!"

I blushed. His taunt affected me. "DAMN!"

He drew his card. "I'll pass my turn."

I had a gut feeling that I was about to lose this duel. I drew my card. "I'll activate the spell card Monster Reborn to revive your Cyber Dragon."

Cyber Dragon appeared on the field. Yes it still had 2100 attack and 1600 defence like any other Cyber dragon.

"I'll attack your monster with Chimeratech Overdragon," I declared as Chimeratech Overdragon launched its powerful attack. I was surprised that Zane didn't activate Cyber Kirin's effect.

"Then I'll attack your life points directly with Cyber Dragon," I declared.

Cyber Dragon launched a powerful strident blast aiming directly at Zane. When the smoke cleared, Zane remained standing as if it never happened. His life points depleted from 3000 to 900.

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn," I stated, having a gut feeling that I wouldn't last the next turn. Sure I could have attacked a lot of times and won but I just don't think I have the heart to do it.....

Zane drew his card and smiled. "I'll activate the spell card Remove Trap to destroy my Royal Decree."

As Zane's trap card was shattered, I couldn't help but wonder what he was planning.

"Since my trap now has been removed, I can now activate my trap card – Return from the Different Dimension. I'll bring back three Cyber Dragons, Cyber Phoenix and Proto-Cyber Dragon to my side of the field."

I was in shock – my monsters I used to fuse Chimeratech Overdragon now will be on his side.

"I'm sorry my monsters," I whispered. "Please forgive me..."

"I'll now activate the spell card Power Bond to fuse all three Cyber Dragons on the field to summon Cyber End Dragon," Zane declared.

I wasn't paying too much attention to the duel. I was too into the move in which Zane had just used. I had heard that my favourite duellist, Seto Kaiba, was attempting to use this strategy in a duel with his rival and king of games, Yugi Muto. The idea was to use his strongest cards against him. This is the strategy in which Zane did to me – I was in a state of awe.

"As you probably know, the effect of Power Bond doubles the attack of Cyber End Dragon, making it have an attack of 8000 points."

"I try to prevent it from being summoned but it just keeps coming back." I said. "Our monster's attacks are equal – they'll both get destroyed."

Zane smirked. "I still have one last card to play."

I knew his next card would be Limiter Removal. It's the exact strategy I use against my opponents. I used it against the boy who mocked me and even against Alexis. This time, it would be used against me.

I smiled. "I know what your card is. Go ahead and play it."

"I'll activate the card Limiter Removal. It doubles the attack of all machine monsters on my side of the field." Zane stated.

Cyber End Dragon's attack sky rocketed up to 16,000. I knew my dragon could've become greater than that.

"I'll attack your Chimeratech Overdragon with my Cyber End Dragon," he declared.

"I'll activate my trap card – Negate Attack," I said, making my last move.

"Nice work, Erika," Zane praised.

I smiled. "This was a fun game!"

Zane smirked. "Reveal face down trap – Trap Jammer."

My eyes widened. Blindsided! I had no cards on the field besides Chimeratech Overdragon or Cyber Dragon and no cards in my hand.

I couldn't do anything but watch as my strongest monster got blasted by Cyber End Dragon with its super strident blast.

My life points went right down to zero. I had just lost the duel. I drew the next card from my deck and just stared at it.

I heard my fan club. The girls were crying while the boys were comforting them. I'm sure the boys were trying to stay strong too.

"That was a great duel," Zane said with a calm but somehow friendly tone.

I remained speechless, just staring at the card.

Alexis turned to Jake. "What's wrong with Erika?"

"She was undefeated – never lost a single duel; not even a practice duel," he told her.

"It must be hard......" Alexis commented.

"But I never knew she could be a sore loser....." Jake said. "She's normally so gracious..."

"Erika...?" Zane said, trying to get my attention, as he approached me.

"Yeah..." I said. "You're right..."

I looked up and smiled at Zane, who was a few feet away. "That was a great duel!!!"

"For a second there I thought you were upset or something," Zane said.

I just smiled. "No, I was just looking at my card, thinking," I told him honestly.

I packed up my cards and shuffled them into my deck. I had decided that I wouldn't use this deck again unless I wanted to win straight away. I'll make a new deck over the holidays and no one else will have one like it this time!

I looked at the card I was looking at before. "Fairywitch, I hope you can forgive me..."

The monster looked the way she normally did. However, I was more than positive that she gave me a smile.


	19. Far From Home

**Chapter 19:**

After the duel, and after the crowd had cleared, Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy approached me.

"Oh Erika, I was so sure that you would win!" Jasmine told me. "But what happened? You could've won three times during that duel! You had three chances to defeat him, but you didn't use them."

I gave a sigh. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I knew one of us had to lose… Zane's always been the champ… I just don't think I had the heart to defeat him in this duel. I knew that I'd be upset if I lost so I assumed he'd be the same."

"What about me?" Alexis asked. "Did you think about that when we duelled?"

"No," I honestly replied. "No one bragged about you being an undefeated duellist. I just thought he'd feel as if all his honour would be stripped, being defeated by a female freshman and all."

Jake wrapped his arm around me and started singing. "Could this be love? Could this be looooove?"

I hit him over the head. "NO!"

He laughed and then turned to Alexis. "Hey, Lex, have you seen Fubu-king? I haven't seen him for weeks. Where is he?"

Alexis looked rather sad. "I don't know…..He just disappeared. And please stop calling him that…!"

"That's strange," Jake admitted. He then clicked to what Alexis said. "No way! He is Fubu-king and Fubu-king he shall be!"

"Out of all the things you could call him….why Fubu-king?" I asked.

"He came up with the name. Fubuki is Japanese for 'blizzard'. This is because he's like a blizzard while surfing – gentle but lethal. Plus he says he's a king at singing so he turned it into 'Fubu-king'."

Alexis didn't seem impressed. "That's my brother for you…"

"I'd like to stay and chat, but I've gotta get going now," Jake explained. "I've gotta finish packing."

Jasmine and Mindy looked love struck. They handed him a book each. "Can we have your autograph please?" They asked in unison.

"Sure," Jake happily said. "Anything for beautiful women like the two of you."

Jasmine and Mindy appeared to have hearts in their eyes. As soon as Jake handed them back their books, they fainted. I couldn't believe how they were acting around him.

"What the…?" I asked.

Jake smiled. "Love does crazy things to you. You should know that now. Later!"

I fumed as he walked off. Sometimes I can't stand that big brother of mine.

"Erika," Alexis said. "Maybe we should get our stuff to leave. And help these two get up."

"I agree," I replied. I crouched down so they could hear me clearly. "Oh Jasmine, Mindy, Jake wants to meet the both of you outside the girls' dorms."

Jasmine and Mindy automatically got to their feet and ran off in the direction of the girls' dorms. I turned to Alexis who seemed to be impressed.

"Nice work, Erika. Now we have to run," Alexis commented.

I sighed. "It's better than carrying them."

As Alexis and I arrived at the girls' dorms, we saw Jasmine and Mindy sitting at the entrance. As soon as we were in their sight, the both of them got to their feet. They seemed rather annoyed.

"Erika, Jake isn't here," Mindy stated.

"Well, I had to do something to make you two move," I replied. "We couldn't carry you both and we're leaving Duel Academy very soon."

"True," Jasmine commented. "I don't think I'd like to stay here… Jake won't be here!"

"I agree!" Mindy said.

I gave a sigh. I'd like to stay there, for the opposite reason to them. "Try having him for a brother, then you'll know the truth."

They looked as if they saw a ghost. "NO WAY! Eww! Incest!!"

Alexis laughed. "That's so wrong."

The four of us headed to our dorms to grab our stuff and finish packing anything we hadn't packed. Alexis and I, however, had already packed. I just needed to put my cards and duel disk in my bag and I was set.

"I can't believe it's been an entire year," Alexis told me. "It went by so fast."

"True," I agreed as I pulled my bags and pushed them against the wall. "It feels like yesterday I was in a duel against the teacher."

Alexis giggled. "Well, let's take our stuff down stairs and meet up with the others."

It was rather funny trying to take our bags down the stairs. Alexis nearly tripped over her bag and mine nearly fell down the stairs. When we finally got down stairs, unharmed, we saw that a lot of the girls were already gathered. Miss Fontaine was also there holding what looked like a roster.

"Hello Alexis, hello Erika," she greeted us. "Do you two have everything packed?"

"Yes Miss Fontaine," Alexis politely replied.

"We packed everything last night," I explained. "No last minute packing or anything."

"Very good," Miss Fontaine commented. She then held out her roster, took out her pen and marked on it. "I can tick you two off the roster now. Once everyone is here, we can go."

It was thirty minutes later when everyone, including Jasmine and Mindy, were in the hall. We all walked together to the island's airport and ship docks. We then were explained what will happen. The students with the highest scores will go on one plane, the freshmen students would go in the second plane and the other students will take the boat ride home. Alexis and I had a choice on what plane we could go on: the first plane or the second plane.

"What should we do?" I asked Alexis. "We could go on the first plane and chat with Zane and Jake or we could go on the second plane with Jasmine and Mindy."

Alexis was in deep thought. "Well, the first plane will be an hour earlier than the second one… And I'm guessing that your parents would want you and Jake to be on the same plane ride home…"

"Yeah, but what about Jasmine and Mindy?" I asked as I looked around. The two of them weren't with us so we didn't know what they'd say. They got lower scores than other students so they couldn't get a ride in the first plane.

"Let's just take the first plane," Alexis decided. "I bet Jasmine and Mindy are finding some guy to cling to."

Before I could reply, I heard a voice shout out.

"Hey Sissy, hey Cyber Angel!"

Both Alexis and I turned around to see Atticus with his bags.

Alexis gasped, ran up to her brother and gave him a hug. "Atticus! Where were you?"

"Sorry Lexi but I was overseas for a little while," he explained. "Chancellor Sheppard gave me permission to enter a surfing competition and told me to attend one of the duelling academies there. And if I liked it, I could go there over the holidays. They start school after Christmas break and don't do the whole 'two long holidays' thing like us."

Alexis smiled. "That's great. I'm glad you weren't lost or anything."

Atticus looked confused. "Why would you think I was lost?"

"I just didn't hear from you. I was really worried."

He grinned. "Don't worry sissy, I'll let you know where I go from now on."

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically at her brother's joke.

Alexis and I decided to go on the first plane after finding Jasmine and Mindy. They were okay with it – they found a cute guy to sit with, which was typical of them.

After going through customs, and yet another metal detector that again made me nervous, we boarded the plane. Alexis and I took our seats in business class. There was so much room and it was so comfortable too. The seats were in groups of three so we sat there with an empty seat. Atticus, Jake and Zane sat in a group of seats beside us, Jake by the window, Zane in the middle and Atticus in the aisle seat. Alexis sat in the middle seat and I sat in the aisle seat, just so we could talk to the guys.

"Hey, Cyber Angel," Atticus said. I guessed that was his nickname for me.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Wanna hang out in the holi-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he got an elbow in the stomach by Jake. I could see how awkward Zane looked when Jake leaned over him to get to Atticus.

"Ask permission from me first," Jake told Atticus. "Our parents aren't here so I'll have to do."

Atticus sighed and rubbed his stomach a little. He turned to Jake. "Jake, can I hang out with Erika in the holidays? Just as friends, of course. I'm not going off to the other academy for a while so I thought I could hang out with her and practice duelling."

"No way!" Jake instantly replied. "I know your mind Atticus: you'd flirt with her like there's no tomorrow."

"He knows you too well, big brother!" Alexis cheekily said.

"Oh c'mon," Atticus said, feeling if everyone was picking on him. "I won't flirt with her…Not that much."

"Yeah you will! She's my little sister Atti!"

Zane sighed. "I knew I should've taken the window seat…Or the aisle seat…"

About ten minutes into the flight, the intercom went off.

"This is your captain speaking," the voice said. "We are set on course at the moment and should be expected to land in just under an hour at Domino Airport at seven pm or nineteen-hundred hours. The weather is good today; clear skies with a just few north easterlies later on through the night. I hope you enjoy your flight on Domino air."

Jake and I gasped. "Dad!?"

Our father is a pilot. He mainly works for domestics and on occasion, some international flights. It was a surprise to hear his voice over the intercom.

"Let's go see Dad," Jake suggested.

I gasped. "Jake, we can't do that! What about the flight attendants? They'll catch us."

"Well figure out a plan sis! You're smart with coming up with plans."

I thought for a little while until an idea popped in my head. "Okay, I have one idea. Just trust me on it."

"Cool."

I rang the bell to get a flight attendant's attention. She approached me with a smile.

"Excuse me Miss," I politely said. "But is it a possibility that my brother and I can see the cockpit? We've always been curious about how the plane works."

I pointed over to Jake. He waves at the flight attendant so she could see who he was. I wasn't lying about the situation. Dad did fly planes but never told us how it worked. He'd just tell us that it's like driving a car but in the air…A lot of help there!

"I'm sorry but I can't let you two go in there without the captain's permission," she replied.

"Tell the captain that Jake and Erika want to see him," Jake told her. "Tell him that and I'm sure he'll let us in."

"Okay," she replied. "I'll be back in a few moments."

"Thank you!" I politely said.

We don't see our father as much as we'd like to but when we do, it's always funny or completely about the family. He usually does double shifts when it's a domestic flight, which makes him come home early morning or late at night depending on the shift he takes and how long the flight takes. When he does come home, it's usually straight to bed for him. He can stay up for nearly forty-eight hours before he loses concentration which really amazes me.

As we went into the cockpit, we saw a lot of gizmos and gadgets. It looked really confusing – how can these people remember what each one does? Ahead of us sat two men in front of a large window. The view was amazing – above the clouds looking at a setting sun. It was breathtaking.

I was in a dream when Jake's voice snapped me out of it.

"Hey, Dad! Didn't know you were working for our flight," he said out loud.

"Yeah, surprised?" he replied, without taking his eyes away from the window. He chuckled a little. "What results did you two get?"

Before Jake could get a word in, I stood up to the plate. "We can't tell you that, Dad! We'll tell you when Mum's there!"

"That's my daughter for you, Dave," he told his co-pilot. "She's just like her mother – always thinks about others."

I blushed. Jake gasped. "Dave! I thought you flew planes as the captain. I didn't know you were his co-pilot!?"

The co-pilot, Dave, gave a laugh. "It's a funny story. Your father and I were both signed to fly this trip but both of us wanted to be captain. We decided in it by a coin toss. I guess he was lucky this time around."

Dave and Dad have been best friends since college. They had a similar interest for the same things which is probably why they're so tight. They went to train together and landed a job in the same company. I don't think I've ever heard them argue before.

"So how's school been?" Dad asked. "You have five minutes max to reply then you'll have to go."

"Erika lost a match today!" Jake blurted out before I could get my two cents in. I slapped my forehead.

I heard Dad sigh. "That's okay. As long as you gave it your best, that's all that matters."

Dad is so wise and kind. I'm sure I got my kindness from him. He always looks on the bright side of life.

"Yeah, I did, Dad. It was a good match" I told him. "It's been a great year. I made so many new friends."

"Good work, Erika. I'm guessing your grades were good too?"

I sighed. "Don't go there, Dad. I told you that you have to hear the results with Mum."

He laughed. "Can't help but try. How about you, Jake?"

"Yeah, it's been a good year," he replied casually, "except that I had to keep my eye on Erika here. You know, with all those boys she's been hanging out with."

I knew Jake was trying to stir something up. I think it must've worked when I heard Dad's reply.

"Let's save that for when we get home," he said in a rather passive tone that frightened me. Dad talked this way when he was troubled or mad. It's rare when he does it. "Duelling well, Jake?"

"Yep," he replied. "I'm not telling you my results either. Don't try it with me."

"Good, good," he chuckled. "Now you kids better get going. We're supposed to be working here, not conversing."

I smiled. "Yeah, okay then. See ya later Dad. Bye Dave."

"Bye kids," Dave replied. "Stay out of trouble the both of you."

"Cheeky Dave, cheeky," Jake replied cheekily. "Laters."


	20. Duelling Via Domino Air

**Chapter 20**

As we took our seats, I realised that it wouldn't be very long until we landed. Alexis and I knew the perfect way to pass the time.

"Wanna duel?" We both asked each other at the same time. We both then started laughing.

"I'll take that as a yes," Alexis replied with a smile.

I think Zane's attention was sparked as soon as he heard the word 'duel'. As soon as we were setting up our cards on the food trays, he came over and sat beside Alexis.

"Hey, Zane, that's uncool. Ditching us for girls," Jake stated, half joking and half serious.

"What about us?" Atticus continued.

Zane gave a smirk. "You two have each other."

Alexis and I burst out into laughter. Jake and Atticus looked rather angry.

In the duel, Alexis had a face down card and her Cyber Blader on the field. She had 4200 attack points because I had two Cyber Dragons on the field in defence mode. Alexis had just destroyed the other one during her battle phase. I had two face-downs.

"I'll end my turn," she declared.

I had three cards in my hand and not very many monsters in my graveyard. I could activate Overload Fusion, which is in my hand, but Chimeratech Overdragon's attack and defence points would only be 2400 – not enough to beat Cyber Blader. I couldn't bring back a monster from the graveyard as that would allow Cyber Blader to have her third effect – negating effects of my spell cards, trap cards and monster card effects. That would mean that my spells would be useless. My hand isn't very good either – all spell cards, Overload Fusion, Limiter Removal and Power Bond. The cards I had face down are Call of the Haunted and Trap Jammer. I could use Limiter Removal to raise my Cyber Dragon's attack to 4200, equalling her Cyber Blader but that will get nowhere – just my monsters getting destroyed. Ho-hum.

"Umm….Erika," Alexis stated. "You forgot to draw."

I blinked. "Oops!"

Alexis smirked. "Is losing the duel becoming too much for you?"

"You're only winning by 100 life points," I stated. She had 1800 life points, I had 1700 life points.

I drew my card. It was the token I needed. I guess I have the luck of the draw.

I smirked. "I'll play De-Fusion to split your Cyber Blader into Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater."

Alexis frowned as she put her Cyber Blader back into her fusion deck and replaced it with the Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater from her graveyard.

"I'll then activate my face down card, Call of the Haunted, to bring back my Cyber Dragon."

I flipped up the trap card, searched the cards in my graveyard pile for Cyber Dragon and placed it in attack position with the others.

Alexis sighed. "Looks like you win."

"That's not all," I continued. "I'll play Power Bond to fuse my Cyber Dragons into Cyber-End Dragon."

I placed the spell card in my spell card zone, beside my face down, sent all of my Cyber Dragon's to the graveyard, looked through my fusion deck for Cyber-End Dragon and then put Cyber-End Dragon above my spell and trap card zone in attack mode. Since I used Power Bond to summon it, it now has 8000 attack instead of 4000.

"Just to use more cards, I'll play Limiter Removal to boost its attack to 16, 000," I told her.

As I played the card and put it in the graveyard I looked up at Alexis. Behind her I saw Zane smirking.

"What's with the smirk?" I asked him.

"It's ironic how you're gonna beat Alexis with the move I defeated you with," he told me.

I blushed, yet frowned. "It's the most sensible move I can do."

"But you can win with just the monster – you don't have to boost it any further. It's just a more humiliating defeat."

"Shut up, Zane!" Alexis whispered as she glared at the young man behind her. "Ignore him, Erika. I'd rather you go all out that give nothing."

I felt upset. Was he sticking up for her? I gave a sigh. "Well, I'll attack your Etoile Cyber with Cyber-End Dragon."

"I'll activate Hallowed Life Barrier," Alexis declared. "I discard one card from my hand to negate attack damage. This means on your turn you take 16,000 points of damage, making me the victor of the duel."

I smirked. "No, Alexis, I activate my face down card – Trap Jammer."

"Dammit!" Alexis said as she put her trap card into the graveyard, followed by her Etoile Cyber. "Looks like you won." She then turned around to Zane. "Even though you said that, I was still unlucky that she used that trap card."

I looked at Zane. "Huh?"

He smirked. "I'm sure your brave act during our duel was just a cover up – you were humiliated. I knew what Alexis played and gave you a hand – just so you wouldn't feel humiliated losing 16,000 points in damage. That's more ego shattering than what 8000 points of damage would do."

Alexis lightly hit Zane on the shoulder. "You're sitting behind me! You're supposed to be on my side! Not giving her any hints!"

"Well, you weren't the one who had their winning streak wrecked the last time you duelled," he explained. He then paused a little. "It's just… If that happened to me, I wouldn't be able to get over the defeat."

I was amazed. Zane actually cared about how I'd feel.

Before I could say a word, the intercom went off.

"We are now approaching Domino City," I heard the air hostess' voice say. "I'd like to tell you all to remain seated as we are approaching Domino airport and are prepared for landing."

Zane quickly moved out of his seat and back to the one he had between Atticus and Jake. Alexis and I quickly packed up our cards, put them away, raised the seats to their upright position and put the food trays up.

As the plane started to descend, I could feel my ears popping quite a lot. I don't know why but I like it when the plane is about to land. It's a mixture of anxiousness and anxiety; wondering how high we are, how far away from the airport we are, how long it will take to land and when exactly the plane will touch down and give that bump feeling when the wheels touch the runway.

I looked passed Alexis and out the window. I could see the lights of Domino City as we approached. At first they looked like ants, and then they started to get bigger.

I could hear the plane's engine and began to think. It's a weird feeling being in a plane. It's as if you're in a room and everyone else is smaller and beneath you. Kind of like looking out the window of a five storey hotel, except everything's smaller and you're watching everything getting bigger.

Domino airport became bigger and bigger. Soon enough, I could see the runway. The engine roared as we came into landing. In the corner of my eye I could see Alexis glancing in my direction. I turned to her and smiled. "Worried?"

She smirked and looked ahead. "No. It's just waiting for that bump."

We remained silent. The plane touched base. It bounced a little, which gave me a fright but the rest was all smooth sailing.

"Here we are in Domino City," the air hostess' voice said over the intercom. "On behalf of the captains and the cabin crew I would like to thank you for flying Domino Air. We hope you enjoyed your flight and hope that you will fly with us again soon."

With that, the seat belt light turned off. I immediately got up and grabbed my bag.

I turned to Alexis. "C'mon! We've gotta beat the crowd!"

Alexis sighed and grabbed her bag. "Okay, okay. No rush huh."

I smiled. "I don't like getting caught in crowds."

We rushed out of the plane casually, thanking the flight attendants as we left.

"Erika! Alexis! Wait up!" I heard a voice shout.

I turned around and saw Jake, Zane and Atticus catching up to us as we reached the airport terminal.

As they caught up, Atticus gave a sigh. "Are you two eager to get home?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, I just don't like crowds."

Just as I said that, a crowd full of students were approaching. I immediately panicked.

"Less talking, more walking!" I said as I pulled Alexis by the arm.

"I'm coming! I'm coming, geez!" she sarcastically said.

We waited a little while at the conveyor belt. By the time bags actually went passed, everyone else was awaiting theirs to go by.

"See sis! No need to rush," Jake cheekily told me. "I knew this would happen. That's why I wanted to take my time."

I glared at him. "Shut up big bro."

Jake laughed and then pointed to the conveyer belt. "Hey isn't that your bag sis?"

I glanced over and saw my bag going passed. "Oh shoot Jake! Thanks a lot!"

As I chased after my bag, I could hear Jake's laughter. "No probs, sis! Anytime."

I gave up chasing my bag – it was going to go back around anyway. I sighed as I watched it continue its course a little further ahead of me.

"Hey, Cyber Angel, don't be blue! Fubu-king is gonna save you!"

I glanced further ahead to see Atticus shouting ahead. I had no idea what he was about to do and frankly, I didn't want to know. Before I knew it, he dashed ahead and jumped on the conveyer belt. I turned around at Alexis, who tried to blend in with the crowd. The look on her face showed the typical 'he's not my brother' look.

"Surf's up dude!" He shouted as he grabbed my bag and swiftly jumped off the conveyer belt. I didn't know what to think. He was either being really polite or being a total idiot. Before I knew it, he was standing next to me with my bag in hand. "Here you are." He said as he gave me a charming smile.

I felt my face going red. I didn't know why, he was being absolutely stupid. But somehow, it seemed rather sweet. "T-thanks Atticus."

He smiled kindly at me. "No sweat!"

I looked back at the conveyer belt and saw a surf board go passed. "Atticus, isn't that your board?"

He glanced over his shoulder at the conveyer belt and saw his board and suitcase go around. "Oh would'ja look at that…"

I felt shocked. "Aren't you going to get it?"

"Nah," he admitted rather casually. "I can't be bothered. It'll come back around again."

I couldn't believe what he just said. Did he do that just for me?

"Atticus! Stop being so stupid," A voice said. I turned around to see Alexis with her hands on her hips. "You could've got in trouble!"

"Well, a pretty woman needed help," he said politely. "I couldn't resist. I just had to help her."

"Are you flirting with my little sister?" I heard Jake's voice say. It sounded really cold and harsh.

Atticus gave him a smile. "Hey, it's okay Jake, I just wanted to help her. You know me!"

Jake was just about to say something when something caught his eye. He turned around and grabbed two bags. He put one close by him and gave the other to Alexis. "Here Alexis," he said casually.

She blushed. "Thanks Jake."

"No sweat."

Atticus fumed. "Are YOU flirting with my sister?"

Jake sighed. "No. He bag was with my one so I thought I'd save her the trouble. I'm not like you Atti."

"Hey, what does that mean?" Atticus said overdramatically. We all knew he was just being his weird self.

"Oh you know what I meant!" Jake said, sounding both serious and a little cheeky.

"Oh cut it out you two, we all can go now."

I turned around to see Zane. He looked as calm as he always did. He had his bags in his hand.

They immediately stopped arguing and turned to Zane. "When did you get your stuff?" They both asked in unison.

"It was one of the first out," he calmly replied. "Now that we all have our stuff, we can go."

We all went through customs, and through the metal detectors. Alexis noticed my nervousness this time around.

"Um, Erika," Alexis started. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Fire away."

"Why did you get so nervous when going through that metal detector?"

I laughed. "Is that all?"

"Yeah that's all."

"Well, one time I going away on holiday with my family," I started telling her the story. "I was wearing jeans with a belt that was sewn in. It made the metal detector go off when I entered customs. They tugged and pulled it when I said that it was attached. It made me really uncomfortable."

She nodded. "Well that's a bit of an experience. It's no wonder. That would make me paranoid too." She then smirked at me. "What are you, a criminal?"

"Haha…" I replied sarcastically.

As we got out of the airport, we saw a lot of families awaiting the arrival of their sons and daughters. Some had been reunited with their family and appeared to be telling them about their studies. Some showed their parents and younger siblings their results and others went straight home, probably too tired to do anything.

As I gazed around the group of parents, I spotted mum out of all of them. It seemed as if Jake saw her first. He immediately ran over to her. I knew what he was going to say, so I followed close behind."

"Muuuuuum! Edrroink'ta's bhealsieve ahnayntghing tohuat Jwaikteh bsoaooys!" We both said, saying completely different sentences at the same time.

"One at a time!" She told us. "I can't understand you when you're both trying to talk to me at the same time!"

"Erika's been hanging out with boys!" Jake blurted out, before I could get a word in.

Mum sighed. "Well, she would at a co-ed school. I don't see her telling me that you've been hanging out with girls."

Jake glared while I laughed at him. "You got told!"

He turned back. "Let's go and say goodbye to the others before we leave."

"Leave your bags here, came back and we'll take them to the car," Mum told us. "And make it quick, it's late and you two don't look very warm."

She was right. In Domino City, it was colder than on the island. On the island, it was warm throughout the seasons. Although it's winter now, I never noticed it at school. It was like summer all year around!

"Hey, what about Dad?" Jake asked. "He flew our plane."

"He'll be a while," she told us. "We discussed it before he left for the flight and he said he'll come back as soon as he's finished."

We both nodded and went back to our friends.

Alexis gave me a hug. "See ya Erika. Keep in touch over the holidays."

"Will do," I replied. "See ya."

Atticus leapt in and gave me a hug. "See ya later, Cyber Angel!"

"Bye Atti!" I replied, hugging him back. I'm sure Jake didn't like me hugging a guy.

He let go and gave me a smile. "Hope we can hang out in the holidays!"

Jake gave him a whack over the head. "I'm not gonna warn you anymore Mr Blizzard."

"Hey, don't worry, I'll miss you too Jake 'the Samurai' Dark!" He cheekily replied.

I looked at Zane who smiled back at me. "Take care, Erika," he said.

I gave him a hug. "You too." I looked up at him and smiled. "Over the holidays, I'll design a new deck and become stronger. Just wait and see."

"I'll be looking forward to that," he calmly replied.

"See ya Zane, see ya Alexis," Jake waved.

I paused. "Will you guys be okay here?" I asked.

"Yeah," Alexis replied. "Go on ahead or you'll never leave."

"Kay! Bye!" I said, waving back as they said goodbye to us.

Grabbing my bag and heading to the car with Mum and Jake, I knew that I'd miss my friends but the anticipation of the new school year scratched at my mind, and the opportunity to become better than everyone else made me even more determined to give it my all.


	21. Boys and their Cards

**Chapter 21**

I murmured in bed, tossing and turning. I was unsure what the time was but I knew I had to get up.

_"I don't want to get up," _I thought to myself, still with my eyes shut. _"I don't wanna go to lessons today. But then again…Alexis will wake me up."_

I instantly opened my eyes and sat up in bed. "AHHH, I'm late for class! I'm sorry, Alexis!!" I shouted.

I gazed towards the window and saw a small speck of light peering through the drawn curtain. I looked around the room and saw that I wasn't at school, but in my own bedroom.

"That's right," I whispered to myself. "It's the holidays. Sure it's been a few days and all but I can't believe I still think I'm at school…"

I glanced over at the analogue clock which had the big hand on the nine and the little hand nearly touching the eleven.

"Ahhhh," I freaked out. "I slept in!"

I wandered out of my room, stumbling slightly. I felt a little dizzy today. I probably got up too fast. Plus I felt like going back to sleep. I guess that's what happens when you stay up all night trying to come up with the perfect deck huh?

I went into the kitchen and sat on a stool, behind the island bench in the middle of the kitchen, with everyone else. I saw how there were numerous amounts of duel monsters cards set out.

"Morning sleepy head," Jake joked as he poured a hot chocolate in a mug and placed it down in front of me. "It's about time you woke up."

I took a sip of hot chocolate. It wasn't hot and it wasn't lukewarm. It was the just the way I liked it.

"We were wondering where you were," a voice commented. "Jake told us you were up all night making a new deck. No wonder you slept in so late."

I turned to my left to see Atticus grinning at me. On his other side was Zane, who seemed interested in the conversation.

"Wha!?" I said in shock. "Atticus, Zane, what are you guys doing here?"

"Jake invited us," Zane told me. "He said it would be cool if we all got together in the holidays."

"Oh and Erika," Atticus interrupted. "I like your PJs. I can't believe you're wearing summery things in this cold winter weather."

I looked down and realised I was that I definitely was still in my pyjamas. Normally, in front of men, other than my dad and brother, I would be fine. However, my PJs are basically baby pink hot pants with a cosy tank top, with a cute yet humorous picture of Happy Bunny on the front, to match so you can understand why I'd be embarrassed. My cheeks felt really hot. I calmly got out of my seat and wandered out of the room.

As I left, I heard Zane talk. "You had to embarrass her didn't you, Atticus?" He asked.

"No, I was telling the truth," Atticus admitted.

It was a while before I came back downstairs. I did have a shower and got dressed so that's pretty understandable. As I wandered back downstairs, I saw Jake and Atticus duelling at the kitchen island. It looked like Jake moved a stool around to the other side so he could sit opposite Atticus. Zane sat at Atticus' side constantly looking in his hand. My guess was that Zane was trying to find a strategy in which Atticus could win. I pulled a stool around to sit beside my brother. By the looks of what cards were on the field, and Atticus' face, Jake was in a better predicament.

Jake chimed. "Because 'Six Samurai Irou' and 'Six Samurai Nisashi' are on the field, I can activate 'Six Samurai Yaichi's' effect which allows me to destroy your face down card."

"Oh man! I hate your Six Samurai's effects!" Atticus moaned as he moved his only face down card to the graveyard.

"So what's happened?" I asked.

"Hey Erika," Atticus happily said. "It's great to see you! You look really pretty out of your uniform."

I blushed. "Thanks."

Jake gave Atticus a harsh glare. "That's it! You flirted with my sister – now I'm gonna beat you up! I'll play 'Hand of the Six Samurai' in attack mode."

I knew what my brother was planning when he played this 1600 attack monster. It had a pretty good effect. However, I didn't know the whole game situation.

"So what's happening?" I repeated.

"Atticus was making pretty good progress at the start, Zane commented. "But Jake's just starting to bring out his Six Samurai cards. He's been using the effects of Yaichi and Irou to destroy Atticus' cards on the field and then attacks directly with Nisashi."

I nodded. Finally, someone gave me a reply…

"Since I have 'Hand of the Six Samurai' on the field, she allows me to tribute my 'Six Samurai Yaichi' to destroy your monster card."

Atticus gave yet another sigh as both he and Jake moved their cards to the graveyard pile.

"But that's not all," Jake continued. "Since I have two 'Six Samurai' monsters on the field, I can special summon 'Grandmaster of the Six Samurai' from my hand to the field in attack mode."

Jake put a card from his hand onto the table beside his other monster cards. Grandmaster of the Six Samurai was probably one of Jake's ace cards. This level five monster had an impressive 2100 attack points but a measly 800 defence. Its effect of allowing it to be special summoned to the field from your hand if a Six Samurai card was on the field made it pretty handy for Jake.

"And since you have no cards on the field, I'll attack your life points directly with all my monsters," he said with a smirk. "Oh and that includes Nisashi attacking twice because of the other Six Samurai's on the field. You lose eighty-two hundred life points. You lose Atti."

"Damn," Atticus commented as he leaned slightly back on the stool. Luckily mum liked stools with backs on them. Atticus picked up his cards and started shuffling them. "Hey, since Erika is here, how 'bout a double duel?"

"Awesome!" Jake said. "You're on!"

I gave a sigh while Zane shook his head. "Nah."

Jake and Atticus looked at the both of us with shock.

"Why's that?" Atticus asked. His voice was full of curiosity.

"You'll lose first Atticus, then Jake will go and it'll end up as a duel between Erika and me," Zane told him.

"Yeah and I still haven't made a new deck yet," I told the boys. "I'm working on it."

Atticus looked at me as if I had said the impossible. "No way! You shouldn't do that!"

I felt rather surprised. "Why's that?"

"This is gonna sound really cheesy but you shouldn't need to change your whole deck," he told me. "It's like changing yourself – don't change who you are."

"For once Atticus had a good point," Zane agreed. "Your deck is strong as it is."

Jake laughed. "Yeah trust you to say that Zane. Her deck's a mirror of yours!"

"Which is why I wanna change my deck," I told them. "I don't want to be a copycat."

"How 'bout we help you out," Atticus asked. "Let's go and look for some good cards that can help you out."

"Uh thanks for the thought but, because of my competitiveness, I don't think I'd like you guys to know my strategies," I said. "Sorry."

Jake laughed. "Typical."

"Hey why don't we have a double duel?" I asked, changing my mind about the situation. "I'll use a different deck instead."

"Awesome!" Atticus said cheerfully. "I'll be able to beat you then!"

"That's cool with me," Jake said. "I'm gonna beat you Atti!"

Our eyes then focused on Zane. He just gave a sigh. "Yeah okay."

"Yay!" Atticus and Jake said in a loud burst of excitement. It sounded as if we all agreed that a couple of kids could go to Disney world for the first time.

"I have one condition though," I said.

Atticus sighed. "What?"

I turned to Zane. "Can I partner up with you? I don't think I could stand to lose again if it ended up being you versus me."

He gave a smirk. "Sure."

"Wha?!" Atticus said in disbelief.

"That's not fair!" Jake continued. "You two could beat us with your machines!"

"I'm not using my machine deck, Jake. I told you that," I said, giving my brother a glare.

"Hurry up and get your cards then," Jake said. "I wanna see what you have!"


	22. The Ultimate Duo

**Chapter 22**

I hurried back to the kitchen with my new deck in hand. "Okay, got them!"

I sat down at the kitchen island on a stool. Zane was on my right and Jake was facing me.

"So how will this work?" I asked.

"We were just talking about that," Zane said. "You'll start, then Jake, then me and Atticus will go last. No one can attack on their first turn."

"Okay," I nodded. "Life points?"

"We thought that we should get eight-thousand between the two in the team," Atticus told me. "That way no single player would get eliminated."

I nodded. "How about shuffling?"

"Meh, let's just pass our decks around clockwise and then anti-clockwise to pass them back," Jake made up on the spot.

I passed my deck onto Jake and took Zane's deck. A sudden thought struck through my head.

"_I can't believe I'm touching his deck!"_ I thought and then shook my head. _"No, Erika. No acting like a crazy fan girl! You've shuffled his cards before…But it's still so cool…No! Stop it…!"_

"Erika, are you okay?" Atticus asked. "You keep shaking your head."

I blinked, blushed and giggled. "Uh…I'm just thinking of what strategy I should do. I don't really want to think about it when I haven't even drawn my cards yet!"

I handed Zane back his deck and received mine from Jake. We all put our decks down at the same time and drew five cards.

"Okay I start," I said as I drew my card. I smiled as I saw a monster that I hoped I'd get on the first turn. "This isn't much but I play 'Dunames Dark Witch' in attack mode."

I loved this level four monster. She reminded me of 'Fairywitch'. The difference is that Dunames is a light typed fairy that has white wings and a really cute outfit. She has 1800 attack points so she'd quite a good monster.

"I'll set two cards face down. Make your move Jake."

Jake drew his card. "I think I'll play a card face down and summon 'Six Samurai Yaichi' in attack mode."

I knew what Jake was planning. I think I'll counter him.

"I'll activate my face down card – 'Trap Hole'," I said, flipping a trap card over.

"Damn," Jake said as he put his monster in his now existent graveyard. "Your move Zane."

Zane drew his card. "Since Erika has a monster on the field, I can special summon 'Cyber Dragon' to the field from my hand in attack mode. I'll play a card face down and activate 'Different Dimension Capsule'."

Zane searched his deck for a card. Once he found it he removed it from play and re-shuffled his deck before putting it back down.

"As you all know, 'Different Dimension Capsule' allows me to remove from play one card. In two turns, it becomes part of my hand," Zane explained. "It's your turn Atticus."

"Yay," Atticus said as he drew his card. "I'll set two cards face down and play 'Red-Eyes Black Chick' in attack mode. Go Erika."

"'Red-Eyed Black Chick,'" Jake said in surprise. "What happened to the Idol deck you were using against me?"

"Oh I thought I'd swap over," he said. "It's Erika's turn so let's stop blabbering for her."

I smiled as I drew my card. "Okay, since both Zane and I have a light monster on the field, I can summon 'Thunder Nyan Nyan' in attack mode without her being destroyed."

'Thunder Nyan Nyan', a level four monster with 1900 attack points, is another favourite card of mine. Her effect is a downer. If I have a monster on my side of the field that hasn't got a light attribute then she'll be destroyed. Hopefully Zane doesn't plan on playing anything but light attribute monsters. Since his deck is similar to my machine deck, he'll mainly summon monsters of light attribute.

"I'll then play 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards," I said as I played the card, followed by drawing two cards and putting it in my graveyard. "I think I'll attack Jake directly with 'Dunames Dark Witch' and 'Thunder Nyan Nyan'."

"I'll activate my face down card," Atticus declared. "Negate Attack."

"I'll counter your card with 'Trap Jammer'," Zane declared, flipping over his card.

I knew Jake was screwed. That was a weakness of his deck – if he had no Six Samurai monsters on the field his cards would be useless. Atticus and Jake's life points were now resting at

4300.

"I'll play a face down. Your turn big bro," I smirked.

Jake gave me a glare as he drew his card. "I summon 'Six Samurai Irou' to the field in attack mode." He put a card on his field. "I'll then play the equip spell card 'Legendary Ebon Steed'. This spell card lets Irou gain two-hundred attack and defence points. I'll attack your 'Dunames Dark Witch'."

"I'll activate 'Sakaretsu Armour'," I declared. "When you attack, it destroys your monster."

He then flipped over his trap card. "I activate 'Swift Samurai Storm'. After this attack, any Six Samurai that I play will gain three-hundred attack points when they battle."

Jake moved his 'Legendary Ebon Steed' to the graveyard. "'Legendary Ebon Steed' allows me to discard it instead of the monster it was equipped to. I'll end my turn by playing a face-down."

Zane drew his card. It's been one turn since he used his 'Different Dimension Capsule'. Next turn, he'll get his card. "I'll play 'Proto-Cyber Dragon' in attack mode," he declared as he put his monster on the field. "I'll attack your 'Red Eyes Black Chick' with 'Cyber Dragon'."

"Reveal trap, 'Sakaretsu Armour'," Jake declared.

"Copycat," I joked.

Zane moved his monster to the graveyard. I felt guilty that my face down couldn't help him out. "I'll lay two face down cards and play 'Premature Burial' to revive 'Cyber Dragon'," He declared as he moved his dragon back to the field. Our life points were now at 7200. "Your turn Atticus."

Atticus drew his card. "I play 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards."

As Atticus drew his cards, his face lit up. "I'll sacrifice my 'Red-Eyes Black Chick' to special summon 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'."

I couldn't believe it. Atticus had the strongest monster on the field. "Your turn Erika."

I drew my card. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what I drew.

"I think I'll sacrifice my 'Dunames Dark Witch' and my 'Thunder Nyan Nyan' to summon 'Light and Darkness Dragon' in attack mode."

"No way!" Jake said. "Why'd you play that?"

I smiled. "Because it's awesome, I'll attack your 'Six Samurai Irou'."

Atticus and Jake lost 1100 life points, bringing them down to 3200. I loved how strong my dragon is.

"Your turn," I said happily.

Jake drew his card. "Okay, now…I'll set a monster face down and end my turn."

Zane drew his card. He looked at me as if he was a raid to make a move. He looked as if he knew my cards weakness which I'm sure he did. At least he got the card he wanted from out of play as it was now his second turn since playing 'Different Dimension Capsule'.

"I'll attack your face-down monster Jake with 'Cyber Dragon'," Zane declared. Jake put his monster in the graveyard. "I'll end my turn."

Atticus drew a card. "I sacrifice my dragon for 'Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon."

I knew he was going to play that card. It was in the same class as my 'Light and Darkness Dragon'.

"Because of its effect, Darkness Dragon gains three-hundred attack points for each dragon in my graveyard – which makes it thirty-four hundred."

"That activates my dragon's special ability," I declared. Its effect negates your dragon's effect. However, my dragon loses five-hundred attack and defence."

"I'll activate my trap 'Call of the haunted," Atticus declared.

I knew what he was up to. He was exploiting my dragon's weakness. My dragon was down to 1800 attack and 1400 defence points.

"I'll play 'Hand Destruction'," he said.

Yet again, my dragon's effect activated. It's now at 1300 attack and 900 defence points.

"I'll activate the trap card 'Backs to the Wall'" Jake declared.

I was getting annoyed now. My dragon was down to 800 attack points. Fairywitch is stronger than it now.

"I'll play the spell card 'Mist Body' to equip to my Dragon," Atticus declared, wasting cads to deplete my dragon's attack.

Now it had 400 attack points. It could no longer use its effect, the poor thing. I had a backup plan though.

"Now to play 'Lightning Vortex'." He said. I'll discard one card and it'll destroy every monster on the field."

Everyone cleared the field of their monsters. I was quite annoyed.

"I'll activate 'Premature Burial' to revive 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'," Atticus continued. His and Jake's life points were at 2400 – just enough to finish them off. "I'll attack you directly with Red-Eyes."

I laughed. 'Atticus, you're greedy! I activate my trap card – 'Dimension Wall'."

"No way!" Atticus shrieked.

I nodded. "Because of 'Dimension Wall', you take the damage instead of us. That's twenty-four hundred life points gone."

To our calculations, Atticus and Jake lost.

"Damn," Atticus said, sounding very disappointed in himself.

"So close yet so far," Jake replied

"Yeah, far…" I said sarcastically, pointing out before I activated the card Zane and I had 7200 life points while Atticus and Jake only had 2400.

"Your new deck's okay," Zane commented to me. "It has good cards but big weaknesses."

"Yeah," I admitted. "I'm working on it."

"Don't change your deck," he told me. "It's good the way it is."

I smiled. "Okay, I'll remain a cyber duellist."

"Yay, you're still my Cyber Angel!" Atticus joked.

I started to giggle. "Uh…Thanks…I think."


	23. Mystery: A New Year

**Chapter 23:**

A soft voice whispered gently into my ear. "Erika, be very careful this year."

I groaned. "Who's this?"

The voice let out a small giggle. It was definitely a female's voice. It sounded rather magical but sweet at the same time. "I'll watch over you this year. I don't want you to get hurt."

I was standing in the dark, listening to this voice. I had no idea where it was coming from; it was like it was coming from all directions. I felt rather confused. "Um...Thank you. B-But you don't have to be concerned. I'm just going to school for my second year, that's all. It's nothing to be worried about."

In the darkness, a bright light shone. It was so bright that it was blinding. I couldn't help but squint to see. Standing in the light was a figure. I didn't know who it was but their outline looked like that of an angel. Was I dead?

"This year will be packed with adventure and mystery. Only you can change your destiny."

I gasped. "Fairywitch?"

I immediately sat up and looked down at my hands. The covers on my bed were nearly falling off. I pulled them back up as I got out of bed. The sunshine snuck into the room through a small opening in my curtains as I peeked outside. It looked like a really bright and hot day out there, which is weird for winter.

The door of my bedroom suddenly burst open. In popped Jake, who looked like he was in a hurry. "Erika, get dressed. The newbies are gonna be duelling at the duel dome today."

"Would you mind knocking?" I asked him. "This is my room."

Jake knocked on my bedroom door. "C'mon Erika, get dressed in your uniform and let's go check it out."

I remember when I duelled for my tryout last year. I was so nervous walking onto the field and gazing upon the teacher. All eyes on me as a duellist. What moves I would make. The tension was awful. Now, I'd be watching them the rookies. I'd know how they'd feel.

I looked through the clothes in my wardrobe and pulled out my Obelisk Blue school uniform. I had a shower, got dressed, had breakfast…Yeah you get the picture…

Jake looked at me. His face appeared to be annoyed. "Forty-five minutes later thank you…"

"I'm sorry!" I said as I gave him a hug. "We can get going now!"

He gave me a grin. "It's all goods! The duel dome is only a few blocks away. We can get there in time by walking."

I smiled and nodded.

As we walked down the sunny street, I began to think of the times me and Jake spent time like this when we were little. We'd go everywhere together: the park, the beach, the movies… Any place that's fun for a child. Those were good times.

"Hey, sis, are you okay?"

I snapped from my drifting memories. "Huh?"

Jake laughed at me. "'Kay, Miss Dreamer, what were you thinking about?"

I smiled. "Oh just the past, like when we were kids and stuff. Taking a walk like this with you brings back those memories."

He gave me a cheeky grin. "Hey do you remember when your ice-cream came right off the cone?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I remember that. I couldn't stop crying… That's when you gave me a scoop of yours."

"Yeah, I'm such a nice big bro aren't I?" I could tell Jake's ego was still intact.

I turned to him. "Hey! What about the time you got your ball stuck in the tree?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that. You helped me get it down."

"It works both ways!"

We spent the whole walk reminiscing on old memories. Before we knew it, we were standing outside the duel dome. Outside were a lot of people, most were in uniform. Some were in mufti, which I figured were the students trying out for the entrance exam.

"Hey, I'm gonna go find people Erika," Jake told me. "Later."

"See ya!" I said politely. Some big brother… Ditching his little sister like that…Oh well.

"Hey, it's Erika!" I heard a girl yell out.

I turned around to see who it was. Coming towards me was a girl with long, sandy blonde hair, who wore an Obelisk Blue uniform like me. Her eyes were bright and friendly. I went up to her and gave her a hug.

"Hiya Alexis!" I greeted. "Long time no see!"

She smiled. "It's been a while."

Right beside her I saw a sandy blond mop. This time, it belonged to the head of a boy. He wore a Slifer Red uniform, which looked a little 'rugged'. I knew who he was.

"Hey Tom!" I said with a smile. "How are ya?"

"Oh hey Erika," he replied with a bright smile, which made his green eyes sparkle, "I'm good. Yourself?"

"Yeah I'm doing fine."

Alexis, Tom and I started up a conversation. All until a couple of loud boys started shouting from opposite ends of the room.

"Yo, Fubu-king! Over here!"

"Well, isn't it Mr. Samurai? How's it going?"

Alexis had the same look on her face as I did. Utter embarrassment.

"That's not my brother…" Alexis said in disbelief.

"Ditto," I replied. "Our brothers are shameless."

Tom laughed. "Hey, I'd love to stay and laugh at your embarrassment but I've gotta go. My little bother's gonna be duelling and I wanna wish him luck."

"Oh awesome," I smiled. "Well, all the best."

"Yeah, I second that," Alexis added in. "See ya Tom."

As Tom left, Alexis pulled me away from the crowd and away from our brothers. "Let's go and find a place to watch the duels." She told me.

As we walked into the arena, we saw that all of the duelling platforms were filled up. A lot of seats were taken on the floor above. I gazed around and saw a boy with a group of friends. He had black spiky hair that, to me, looked like the wind blew his hair in one direction. His eyes looked cold and serious as our eyes met. I could see his friends were looking at us too.

"Hey, Alexis," I whispered. "I think some guys are checking you out."

I tilted my head, in a low-key manor, in the direction of the group of boys. She giggled a little. "Erika, you're crazy!"

I smiled. "Let's go upstairs."

Upstairs was packed. It made me feel a little claustrophobic at first but, as we got away from the entrance to the floor, it became less crowded.

"Hey look who it is!" Alexis said as she wandered off towards the rails.

I had no idea where she was going but I decided to follow her. What else would I do? Watch the duels by myself? No thanks.

I saw who she was talking about. My heart started racing.

"Hey Zane," she said casually as she leaned against the rail. "Watching some duels?"

"Just keeping my eye out for any special duellists," he replied. His voice was still cool and calm as I remembered.

I thought over the holidays my infatuation with my best friend would go away, but no…It gets worse! Ahhh, this isn't like me!

I leaned against the rail and looked over at the duels beside Alexis. "So who's caught your eye so far?" I asked Zane. "Anyone you think that can dethrone you?"

"Some have shown potential," he said. "There are two that stand out. I think their names are Bastion and Chazz. One duels with strategy and formulae while the other uses strength and effects."

"Interesting," Alexis commented as we all turned towards the fields.

"Oh I thought you were the school's mascot or something," A boy's voice said.

I looked over towards that field. There, on the field was a boy wearing a black jacket with a red shirt underneath. His hair looked like a mop – all messy. It looked different though. It had two different tones of brown. The person he was talking to was no other than Crowler. I couldn't help but think he was either brave or absolutely stupid. It was mainly the latter though.

I could tell what was going to happen. Crowler was going to teach this boy a lesson. I could see the fumes coming out his ears. I do have to admit, the comment was rather funny.

"I'll teach you a lesson you!" Crowler threatened.


	24. Mystery: Back n Duelling It

"Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, go show those heroics," the boy told his monster.

The one winged monster leapt into the air from a skyscraper, a field spell card that the boy had just played before declaring the attack. Flame Wingman's attack blasted Crowler's 'Ancient Gear Golem' into smithereens.

"Impossible!" Crowler cried. "There's no way that delinquent could defeat me!"

"And that's game!" The boy told Crowler, while winking at him and striking a pose.

Alexis, Zane and I all gasped. How could that boy defeat Crowler!? Was it a fluke or was it serious?

"That was amazing," Alexis commented. "I've never seen Crowler lose. That kid's got a future here! Wow!"

I looked at the boy. It was weird but I was sure that I saw a Kurriboh beside him. The only difference is that his Kurriboh had wings… Winged Kurriboh? Gosh I must think about duelling too much – I'm seeing duel monsters! Is this normal? I looked around and saw the boy with black spiky hair staring at me. His eyes burned into my skin. I could tell that he definitely didn't like me but why? Oh well, I don't really care – I just watched Crowler lose to a rookie, that's my excitement.

A week since the duel where that rookie Jaden defeated Crowler passed by so quickly and before I knew it, I was on an early morning flight to Duel Academy for another year. I was ecstatic to get back to duelling and to school. Nerdy, sure, but it's the truth.

"Oh my gosh Mindy, did you see that cutie?" I overheard Jasmine in a conversation as the Obelisk Blues left the plane.

"Uh huh!" Mindy replied.

Alexis turned to me. "Did you hear them too?"

I nodded. "Who couldn't?"

"I don't understand why they're so focused on boys and not duelling," she confessed. This was obviously a concept that we both didn't understand. Although I was starting to understand their feelings for boys, as strange as it may sound.

As we assembled into a group, I gazed around at my surroundings. Everything was still the same. The island was beautiful and had numerous amounts of terrain; from a luscious forest to a rocky volcano. In the middle of it all, stood the academy which looked like it did when I was last here.

Yet again, like last year, all of us now second year students were divided into six groups: Obelisk Blue girls, Obelisk Blue boys, Ra Yellow girls, Ra Yellow boys, Slifer Red girls and Slifer Red boys.

"Alright girls, good morning, I hope you all enjoyed your holiday," A familiar voice greeted us Obelisk Blue girls. I looked towards the voice and saw the friendly face of Miss Fontaine. "Now you girls all know the drill. Let's go to your dorms."

We walked around the island's lake towards the Obelisk Blue dorms. I did a double take and saw that following our group was Crowler and the second year Obelisk Blue boys. Well, we didn't have to tour the school this year so it was understandable that we were taking the same route.

As we approached closer, I spotted the blue roves of the lavish Obelisk Blue dorms. When the whole dorm was in sight, it looked like a picture on a postcard. Inside the mansion was just as beautiful as its exterior. Like last year, the foyer looked like it could be used as a ballroom. The floors were nicely polished and the windows were so large and clean. A beautiful water feature was placed in the centre of the area and two staircases, with red carpet, wound up to the upper level. Everything looked untouched and perfect.

Miss Fontaine showed us to our dorms. "You girls will be staying down this hallway now, since you're in your second year now."

I spotted the door with my name on it. Alongside it, once again, was Alexis'.

"Oh I'm stuck with you again," Alexis said with a cheery smile.

"Oh poor you," I told her sarcastically, while grinning back at her.

As we walked inside our room, we saw that these rooms were more beautiful than our previous one. The walls were a light pastel yellow with golden furnishings such as chandeliers and frames on paintings. The duvet of our beds was a maroon colour and had a golden headboard. I was impressed by how we had a balcony overlooking the scenery. We also had a double seated maroon couch to match the bedding and a TV.

"Wow," I gasped in awe. "Now this is what I call luxury."

"I'm sure the third years are more impressive," Alexis commented. "Hope you'll be looking forward to that."

I nodded. "Of course."

We wandered back downstairs. All of the girls were beginning to assemble in the foyer. Once everyone was back, Miss Fontaine wanted our attention.

"Now girls, feel free to do whatever you want as long as it's in the school rules," she said. "Make sure you come back at dinner time for the welcoming meal."

"Let's go and see if anyone in our dorm wants to duel," Alexis suggested. "I've been itching for a match."

"Okay," I responded.

Unbelievably, it was difficult to find someone to duel. Everyone was unpacking their things. Deciding to follow the crowd, Alexis and I unpacked our stuff before going to find Alexis a match. Fortunately, we managed to find one. Alexis defeated him with such ease.

"I feel so much better now," Alexis admitted as we made our way back to the dorms for the welcoming dinner.

"That was a good match," I told her. "I admirer your duelling style, Alexis – so graceful, yet a little harsh."

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

Once we arrived, we saw a very large buffet table in the ball room filled with food and drink. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, reflecting its light throughout the room. A lot of girls were already there, holding champagne glasses. I'm more than positive what they're drinking is grape juice – we're all too young to drink.

"Hey you two," Mindy greeted us, with Jasmine waving alongside her.

"Hello," I greeted. "What have you two been doing?"

"Oh we've spotted another cutie!" Jasmine admitted. "He's so gorgeous!"

I sighed. "Who is it now?"

"Oh he's just a first year but he's so cute! He has this coldness to him but he's so cool!"

"So, Alexis," I said, completely blocking out both Jasmine and Mindy's fan girlish comments. "This year, huh…"

"This year's going to be interesting," she confessed.


	25. Mystery: Duel in Love

It was the second night at duel academy. Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine and I had all just hit the hot pools. It was a way to relax after a day's worth of work.

"Ahhhh…" Mindy sighed as she began to relax. "I could just melt away,"

I gazed over at Alexis. She looked a little lost in thought.

"You okay Alexis?" I asked.

"Hmm?" She asked. She then sighed and gave a smile. "I think the heat is getting to me."

Jasmine grinned at Alexis. "I've never seen you this way, Alexis," her grin then turned into a somewhat serious face, "I wonder…could it be that you're falling for that Slifer…?"

"What!?" Alexis said.

As if it was a sign, we all heard a commotion from the foyer. Automatically, we all got out of the pool and got dressed before rushing to see what the fuss was all about.

Standing in the foyer was a short boy with aqua coloured hair. He wore a small pair of glasses in front of his large grey eyes. His uniform was red so I knew he was in Slifer. Was this the boy Jasmine was talking about?

His eyes focused on Alexis. "Oh Alexis, I'm all yours!" He said with a voice that sounded lost in a dream.

Alexis looked a little confused. "Syrus, why are you here?"

"The love note, don't you remember?" He told her, holding a piece of paper.

Jasmine, Mindy and I all looked over Alexis' shoulder as we all read this love note.

"This can't be true," Mindy said in disgust.

"Oh but it's true," Syrus begged. "Just tell them Alexis."

"Sorry Syrus but I didn't write this," she told the boy. "Besides, it's made out to Jaden Yuki."

Syrus' dreary look turned into one of disappointment. "Great, I can't even get a fake love note!"

Something caught my attention. "I hear someone coming," I alerted the girls. The lot of us panicked and looked towards the staircase. Jasmine and Mindy sat on Syrus, in an attempt to hide him from whoever was coming while Alexis and I stood up normally, attempting to make the lot of us look casual.

"What are you girls doing up at this hour?" The voice asked. When I looked towards the speaker, it was Miss Fontaine. Shoot!

"Sorry Miss Fontaine," Alexis began. "We'll make sure to keep a lid on things."

As Miss Fontaine went back to her room, the lot of us sighed in relief.

"C-Can you girls get off me please?" Syrus said. "You two are heavy."

Jasmine and Mindy looked outraged. "What did you say Slifer slacker!?"

"Uh…That's enough girls," I said as I tried to withhold the two of them from causing Syrus any bodily harm. "He's only a little guy," I started, thinking of a way to put it politely, "even though you two are very light, it would be too much for the guy to handle."

He blushed. "Uh…T-thanks."

"It's okay," I said with a smile. I then turned to Alexis. "So what shall we do with him?"

"Let's turn him in!" Jasmine said with a smirk on her face. Syrus looked terrified.

Alexis gave him a devious smirk. "I have a better idea…"

Alexis hung up the phone as the five of us stood outside. "I sent him the message. Did I sound okay?"

"He would never guess that was you," Mindy confessed.

We waited for a while. From a distance we could see a boat coming in from the lake. The boat arrives and the boy who beat Crowler got out and dashed towards us. I think his name was Jaden…

"Hey Jay!" Syrus called out.

"Hey," Jaden greeted his friend. He then looked towards us girls "Uh-oh, you might wanna brace yourself for this one, Sy old buddy."

"Hey, now the both of them are trespassing," Mindy realised. Jaden had a shocked expression.

Alexis smirked. "If you beat me in a duel, Jaden, we'll let the both of you go free."

"Really?" Syrus said in surprise.

"Yeah, because if you lose you're getting expelled," Jasmine continued, giving the boys a wink.

"Okay then Alexis," Jaden began. "Get your game on!"

"Let's duel!" The both of them said in unison as they activated their duel disk. This match will be an interesting one.

Alexis started the turn. She drew her card. "I'll summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode."

Etoile Cyber was one of Alexis' favourite monsters. With 1200 attack and 1600 defence, the effect of the level four monster definitely leaves a mark on her opponents.

"I'll put one card face down and end my turn," Alexis continued.

Jaden drew his card. "I'll play Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode and I'll have him attack your Etoile Cyber."

"Reveal trap card, Doble Passé," Alexis declared as she revealed her face down card. "The effect of this trap allows Sparkman to attack me directly but in return Etoile Cyber can attack you directly."

Sparkman launched his attack towards Alexis. She took a full on hit, making her hold out her arms in defence. Her life points decreased to 2400. Etoile Cyber then attacked Jaden. He flinched a little as his life points depleted an extra 600. This was due of Etoile Cyber's ability that added an extra 500 attack points to her attack when she attacked directly. His points were now at 2200.

"Wow, you're something else Alexis," Jaden complimented.

Alexis drew her card. "You're sweet. Too bad I have to crush you. I'll play Blade Skater in attack mode."

This level four monster, with 1400 attack and 1500 defence, was definitely a key part to Alexis' plan…

"I'll then activate the spell card Polymerization. This fuses my Blade Skater with my Etoile Cyber to form Blade Skater," Alexis declared.

I knew Blade Skater was one of Alexis' ace monsters. The 2100 attack and 800 defence monster definitely had a few tricks up her sleeves.

"Cyber Blader, attack Jaden's Sparkman with Whirlwind rage!"

Cyber Blader launched a huge blast towards Sparkman. The instant the attack hit him, he blasted into thin air. Jaden's life points went down to 1700.

"So, you impressed?" Alexis asked as she let Jaden begin his turn.

"Impressed? I think I'm in love!" Jaden replied as he drew his card. "I'll play the field spell Fusion Gate," he declared. "This allows me to fuse monsters without Polymerization. This will let me fuse my Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in my hand to form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. I'll also play the spell card Kishido Spirit. This card lets Flame Wingman destroy any monster on the field with the same attack as him without being destroyed himself."

Flame Wingman launched an attack to Cyber Blader. Cyber Blader took the impact but remained on the field.

"Sorry Jaden but Cyber Blader's special ability means that she cannot be destroyed as long as you have one monster on your side of the field," Alexis told him as she started her turn by drawing a card. "I'll play the equip spell card Fusion Weapon and attach it to Cyber Blader and I'll have her attack your Flame Wingman."

Cyber Blader used her arm as a cannon and launched an attack right towards Flame Wingman. Fame Wingman was destroyed instantly and Jaden's life point took a massive hit, leaving him with only 200.

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Clayman to the field," Jaden declared as a huge statue looking monster emerged on the field. "I'll also activate the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back Elemental Hero Sparkman to the field."

Sparkman stood beside Clayman. I was curious on how Jaden would turn things around.

"I'll use Fusion Gate to fuse Clayman and Sparkman to form Elemental Hero Thunder Giant."

Jaden's new monster was what he was – a giant. And his stats matched – 2400 attack and 1500 defence. There was no possible way that Alexis could withstand the attack.

"I'll attack your Cyber Blader with Thunder Giant," Jaden declared.

Thunder Giant launched a huge ball of thunder at Alexis. As the blast hit, her life points were depleted to zero. Jaden had won the duel.

"Now that's game," Jaden said in a cheery tone. "It was close. You got game."

"Hey let's turn the both of them in," Jasmine suggests.

I looked over at Alexis. Knowing her, there's no way she would now.

"No," she said. "We have to agree with the terms of the duel."

Both Jaden and Syrus looked relieved and instantly got on the boat, before saying goodbye to Alexis. Jasmine and Mindy were rather annoyed when Alexis and I waved goodbye. I'm guessing they wanted to turn them in.

"I can't believe you lost," I told Alexis as we both got ready for bed in our room.

"Well I lost to you," she quickly replied as she crawled into bed. "There's something about that Jaden…I'll be keeping my eye on him."


	26. Mystery: Chocotastic

It was the thirteenth of February and I had just finished my classes for the day.

"Hey Erika, wanna go and study?" Alexis asked me.

I blushed. "Uh…Not tonight," I confessed.

Alexis looked rather confused. "Erika, are you okay?" She put her hand to my forehead. "You're not sick are you? It's not like you to be missing study time."

I laughed. "No, I just have to do something."

"Like what?"

I could feel my cheeks grow hotter. "Uh…Just a little project…That's all!"

"Okay," she said, finally giving up on finding out what I was truly doing. "Just let me know if you need any help with anything."

I nodded as she walked off. I had this funny feeling that she knew what I was planning.

I went to my locker and grabbed a pink gift bag in there. Inside was all the equipment I needed. I knew what I was doing, it was just finding where. I sparked a thought and dashed into the school cafeteria. Thankfully, Miss Dorothy was still there cleaning up.

"Um…E-Excuse me, Miss Dorothy," I said very shyly.

The cuddly woman turned around. Her brown friendly eyes greeted me kindly. "Hello there, are you needing any help?"

"Umm…Is there a possibility that I could use your kitchen tonight? I asked. "I wanted to make something and this was the only place I could think of."

"What do you want to make?" She asked.

I blushed. "Chocolate."

She gave me a warm smile. "Is that for Valentine's Day?"

I nodded.

"Then of course you can," she said. "Just make sure you clean up after yourself."

I nodded. "Thank you Miss Dorothy."

"You're welcome," she said. "I used to be young once too. Now who's the chocolate for? A friend? A boyfriend, maybe?"

I blushed yet again. "Oh I was thinking of making chocolate for my friends." I gave her a sweet smile. "I could make you some if you'd like."

"Oh you're a dear," she said. "What's your name?"

"Erika," I replied. "Erika Dark."

"Erika," she said silently to herself. "Do whatever you like okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you!"

She smiled and made her way off. I guessed it was no point of her cleaning up as I was about to make a mess of things. I quickly got to work and pulled out a recipe book and a few blocks of chocolate.

"Okay, now to chop the chocolate," I said as I attempted to find a knife in the kitchen.

It took about five minutes before I located that the sharp knives were in the chopping block – not the cutlery draw or the cupboard. I got out a chopping block, which took me ten seconds to find, and started cutting away at the chocolate.

It took a while but I finally got to the point where I was now moulding the chocolates. It was now dark, around nine. I shaped all the chocolates into little bite sized hearts and put them in the fridge so they could set for a few hours. I sighed in relief when it was all finished.

I gazed at the kitchen. I was staring at a disaster zone. Yeah, it proved that it took me five hours to make an edible batch of chocolate. I was not a good cook and this showed. Luckily I had a lot of chocolate to use to get it right.

I started cleaning up the kitchen. By the time midnight arrived it was time to check on the chocolate. Luckily it had set and now it could be decorated.

The decorations took a good hour and a half before I waited for that to set. That took about half an hour before I could wrap them. It was now two in the morning and I was exhausted. Still, I organized the chocolates so everyone had one of each.

As I finished naming the last gift, I sighed. "There! Done!"

I then gazed upon my work. However, the numbers weren't adding up.

"Okay so there's Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy," I whispered, moving bunches of chocolate to the side, "Jaden and Syrus, just because of all the trouble they went through with the love note and all. Jake, Atticus, Tom and that entire group…Oh and that one's for Miss Dorothy…"

I panicked. I forgot the most important person to give a gift on Valentine's Day! I looked throughout the room for more chocolate but unfortunately, it had all been used and Miss Dorothy had none.

_"Oh shoot!"_ I thought as I tugged on my hair. _"Oh Shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot!"_

Everything became more hectic as I looked thoroughly through the kitchen. I looked underneath the benches, amongst the cutlery, through the cupboards but nothing.

"_Damn it Erika!"_ I thought to myself. _"What did you do with the chocolate?"_

I went through the fridge and sighed in relief when I saw the special chocolate I had made. I think I need to go to sleep. I always make stupid mistakes like this when I'm tired. Correction: I _always_ make stupid mistakes like that.

I wrapped it up and put all the chocolates into the pink gift bag. "Yay," I said tiredly.

My head felt so heavy, it couldn't be helped for me to put my head on the bench for a moment.

"Erika," A kind voice said. "Wake up."

I opened my eyes and stirred. A peek of light shone through the room as I looked at what said those words. "Wha…?"

"Did you sleep here all night?" Miss Dorothy asked.

I immediately got out of my seat. "Ahhh! I'm so sorry!"

"Well you did clean up," Miss Dorothy commented. "Thank you. Now you better get ready for class."

"Thank you Miss Dorothy," I said. I then pulled out a batch of chocolates from the pink bag and handed it to her. "Here, a little Valentine's Day slash thank you gift for you. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Oh that's so sweet!" She said as if it was one of the nicest things ever. "Thank you."

"No prob," I replied as I grabbed the bag. "Now I've gotta go. See you!"

I walked down the empty corridors on my way to the girls' dorms. Everything was deserted as the rays of the sunrise glistened throughout the corridor. It was a beautiful sight, one that left me in a little bit of a dream. A sudden feeling of butterflies swept through me. Valentine's Day always made me feel this way, though I never had a valentine in my life.

I couldn't help but skip all the way to the dorms. No one is around so who cares!

"You're in a good mood today," A familiar voice said.

I looked up to see Atticus grinning at me as he approached.

"Oh it's you Atticus," I said. "Good morning."

"What!?" He said in surprise. "Aren't you the slightest bit happy to see me?"

"It's a little early in the morning to process that's in front of me and all that," I confessed.

"Yet you're happy enough to be skipping down the corridor."

I was stumbled. There was only one thing I could do. I flicked through my bag and handed him a batch of chocolate. "Happy Valentine's Day, Atti!"

His face looked dumbfounded. "Erika…"

"I'm sorry Atti," I said.

He wrapped his arms around me. "Thanks Cyber Angel."

"It's okay," I said.

He smirked at me. "Maybe I should thank you with a Valentine's Day kiss!"

His eyes were glistening with curiosity as they looked into mine. I started to blush madly as his face drew closer. He then looked down at my feet and placed his hands on my shoulders as he began to laugh.

"Did you think I was serious?" He asked.

I glared at him. "I don't know! I'm not a damn mind reader."

He smiled sincerely as he moved my hair behind my ear. "You're really cute when you act like that."

Atticus gave me a thumbs up before walking off. I had no idea why he was here so early in the morning but I was sure that he's definitely a flirt.


	27. Mystery: The Mysterious Admirer

As I walked into my dorm room, Alexis was already up and dressed. She gasped as I entered the room.

"Erika," she said in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I told her. "I fell asleep in the cafeteria when I was making presents for everyone." I got out a Valentine's Day gift for her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Alexis."

"Oh! So that's what you were doing," she said as she accepted her gift. "Thanks Erika."

"It's okay," I replied.

"Did Valentine's chocolates take you all night?" She asked.

I blushed and nodded. "I'm not the best cook."

After lessons, I dropped off the chocolates to most of the people I had made chocolate for. The happiest person to receive a valentine was definitely Jaden – he was glad the gift was edible and scoffed them all down in one gulp. I was happy to hear from him that they were delicious.

"Okay, just one more gift to go," I said as I looked into my bag. It was nearing the end of the day so this was a good record of handing out chocolate.

I gulped as I saw what gift it was. It was the special chocolate I had made.

"Uh…Erika, are you okay?" Alexis asked. "You look rather worried."

I shook my head and gave her a grin. "Uh...No, I'm fine. Lex, do you know where Zane would be?"

She thought for a little while. "Uh…At this time, probably around by the lighthouse."

I smiled. "Cool!"

We went to put our books in our lockers. As I opened mine, something fell out.

"Huh?" I gasped as I bent down to pick it up. It was an envelope.

"Hey, Erika," Alexis said. I looked over to see her holding a single red rose and a heart shaped box. "These were in your locker too."

I put my pink bag down and put my books in my locker. I opened the envelope. Inside was a letter. It read:

Dear Erika,

I am writing to you to wish you a happy Valentine's Day and that I hope you like my gift. I wanted you to know that I have unconditionally fallen in love with you. You are my light, my soul, my everything. When I build up the courage to show you who I am, I will confess this to you in person. For now, I will remain your secret admirer.

I love you,

Your secret admirer.

My heart skipped a beat. My face went pale. "A-Alexis….R-R-Read this…"

I took the gifts from Alexis and handed her the letter. I watched her eyes as they moved side to side. She suddenly gasped.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Someone has a secret admirer," she teased. "Hey, imagine if it was Crowler leaving a note like he did for Jaden."

As she began to laugh, I fumed. "I hope not!"

Alexis put the letter back in the envelope for me. "It sounds as if they're really shy."

Whoever this person is, I wonder what made them fall for me. But who in the world is this person? I'm clueless and this letter is making my curiosity rise.

"Hey, Lex," I said, "do you have any idea who it could be?"

She stood on the spot and began to think. "No, I don't think so…You?"

I thought for a while. There was only one person that I thought was shy and that was Syrus. Although I wouldn't know why he'd like me; all I did was help him out when Jasmine and Mindy were gonna beat him up and when I gave a Valentine's Day gift to him… Then again, if I were this person, I'd wanna give a 'secret admirer' gift when no one else was around. My other guess: Atticus. He was roaming the corridors when I was heading back to the dorms. However, Atticus has HEAPS of confidence; he'd go out and kiss me if he felt that way. I started to blush as I remembered when he tried just that, although it was a joke. Could he have backed away because of that? Oh I don't know…I'm just jumping to conclusions.

"Uh…Erika, are you okay?" Alexis asked as she waved her hand in front of my face.

I snapped out of my little thought bubble. "Uh yeah I'm fine."

"Well, I'm going back to the dorms now," Alexis told me. "I'll see you back there."

"Hey, I'm coming with you," I replied.

She looked surprised. "I thought you wanted to see Zane."

I blushed, picked up my pink bag and put my gift inside. "Yeah, that's right."

"Just don't take too long. The sun's setting and if you're daydreaming like that, then it's obvious you need some sleep."

She gave me a smile as she walked away. I closed and locked my locker before leaving for the lighthouse.

I sighed as I stared at the bag. My heart started to beat faster as I approached my destination.

_"Oh what am I doing?"_ I thought. _"He's just your FRIEND, nothing else. You don't have to act so stupid, Erika."_

The lighthouse was in sight. I saw a figure leaning against it, watching the sun go down. It was obviously him.

As I approached Zane, his head turned in my direction. "Erika, what're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I cheekily told him. I pulled out the special gift I made for him and handed it to him. "Here you go, Happy Valentine's Day."

He looked somewhat surprised. His surprise vanished quickly and his calm self returned. "Thanks."

"Did anything interesting happen to you today?" I asked as I sat down at the dock, watching the sunset.

"Not really," he casually replied. "Just a few girls giving me gifts but that's about all. What about you?"

"Well, I woke up in the cafeteria after making chocolate all night," I told him. I then pulled out the letter I had received and handed it to him. "And then I found this in my locker with a red rose and a box of chocolates."

He took the letter off me. I could hear him opening the envelope and pulling the letter out. I looked back and saw him carefully reading the letter.

"An admirer hmm," he said as he put the letter back in the envelope before handing it to me.

"Yeah," I replied as I took back the letter. "Do you have any idea who it could be?"

"Could it be a guy you always hang out with?"

It surprised me when Zane suggested that. "But I mainly hang out with you."

"Well, other than me," he told me clearly. "What about those boys that admirer your duelling?"

I instantly thought of Tom and the gang. Now the suspect list is much larger. It could even be someone I barely know. This was making me even more curious.

"True..." I replied. "Oh I don't know. I wish I knew who he was." I got off the dock and brushed myself off. "Well, I better get going now. I've gotta study."

He smirked. "Are you still eager to beat me?"

"Yeah, of course," I replied, giving him a wink. "See ya Zane."

As I walked away, I felt a sense of happiness. I guess it was the thought that I finally had a valentine that made me feel excited. It may not be who I wanted it to be but the thought that someone really felt that way about me made me feel so pleased. I just have to find out who this mysterious person is.


	28. Mystery: Atticus' Picture

I woke up to Alexis grinning at me. I jumped and fell out of bed.

"Good morning to you too," Alexis giggled.

"Uh…Wha-What do you…Umm...What are you doing? Why?" I asked all at once. My brain isn't switched on yet…Can you blame me?

She handed me over a small wrapped bunch of chocolates. "Happy White Day!"

I looked at her surprised. "Is it White day already?"

She nodded. "A month flies by fast, doesn't it?"

I gave her a smile as I accepted the gift. "Thanks, Lex."

I got to my feet and wandered to the closet where my uniform was patiently waiting for me. I got ready in the bathroom and headed off for class with Alexis. A flock of boys all came towards us as we made our way down a corridor.

"Happy White Day," they all shouted as they gave us chocolates.

Both Alexis and I looked at each other. Half of these boys I knew; they were friends of mine. But the others? I'm guessing they were all for Alexis. "Thanks," we both said politely.

As they went off, I turned to Alexis. "It looks like you're 'Little Miss Popular' I guess it comes with the title of Queen of Obelisk Blue."

She laughed. "Yeah, as if! Who cares about popularity – I wanna be remembered as a good duellist."

I nodded. "I couldn't agree with you more."

"Those were delicious, Sy. What were they for?" I heard a familiar voice compliment.

"J-Jay! Those weren't for you! They were White Day gifts…" Another familiar voice replied to the first. "Oh it doesn't matter anyway…"

Alexis and I looked towards the voices and saw Jaden and Syrus.

"Wha!? Those were White Day gifts!?" Jaden said in shock. "Jeez, I'm sorry Sy."

"Hey guys," Alexis said as she approached the boys. I followed along behind.

"Hey Alexis," Jaden replied. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing," Alexis replied. "Just the usual: classes, duelling, y'know. Yourself?"

Just as Jaden was about to speak, Syrus got his two cents in.

"Well we were giving out White Day gifts but SOMEONE had to eat them all!" Syrus explained, clearly pointing out that Jaden was that someone.

"Hey, I'm sorry bro," Jaden replied.

"Yeah and you ate them just when Alexis and Erika go here too…"

Alexis looked over at Syrus, "Were they gifts for us?"

He shyly nodded. A tickle of pink hit his cheeks. I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh that's so sweet, Syrus!" I told him. "Thank you for the thought. We appreciate it!"

His face now was as red as a tomato. "Uhhh…don't mention it!" He said with a smile.

"Oh! I have a gift!" Jaden told Alexis and I. "Let's all duel!"

Alexis did a double take. "Uh, I think I'll take a rain check on that Jay. Erika and I have to go."

As Alexis dragged me off I saw that a crowd of boys were in the distance. All had gifts in hand.

"I hope they all know its White Day and not Valentine's Day," I told Alexis.

"Yeah, they were worse on Valentine's Day," she told me as we hurried down the long corridor. "They don't understand that White Day is about returning the feelings to the person that confessed them on Valentine's Day."

"Hey, why am I running with you?" I asked. "They're all chasing after you!"

"You're keeping me company. You are a good friend aren't you?"

I laughed. "Fine, it's my present for you."

She let go of me as we wandered into the Obelisk Blue duel arena. I looked towards the large duel arena and saw two boys in dark blue coats duelling. A crowd had formed around the arena, watching the two summon their monsters and use their spell and trap cards. I couldn't help but watch the duel too. It's rare for me to watch one as I normally study or am in the duel.

"Erika, c'mon, we can come back after class," Alexis told me. "We're running late."

I gasped and hurried along with Alexis. There's no way I could be late to class!

Alexis turned the doorknob to our classroom. We both stumbled into the classroom.

"Over here!" A voice yelled.

Both Alexis and I looked over to the voice and saw Atticus' grinning mug waving at us. He pointed to two empty seats beside him. I wondered what he was doing here. Maybe it was another joint lesson between levels. This was confirmed when I spotted Jaden and Syrus in the front row.

"You go first," Alexis told me as she started pushing me up the stairs. "There's no way I'm sitting by that brother of mine."

"If you won't sit by him what does that say for me?" I joked.

We quickly wandered up the stairs and took our seats. Atticus looked somewhat happy.

"Hey Cyber Angel. Hey Sissy!" He grinned.

"What are you doing in this class?" I asked Atticus to the point.

"Sad," he replied. "I don't even get a hello."

I sighed. "Hello Atticus…."

He gave me a big smile. "That's better. Now what about you, sissy?"

Alexis just looked at her big brother and gave a little smile, "hello brother. Can I look to the front now?"

Atticus laughed. "That's better!"

"So what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Dunno," he replied. "A few of us from my level are here too. Plus Zane's here."

I blushed. "Zane!?"

"Hmm?" A voice replied.

I peered at who was sitting on Atticus' left and saw no other than Zane. I felt rather flushed.

"Z-Za…Uh…H-Hi," I stuttered as I managed to smile and wave.

He gave me a nod and faced the front. I looked towards Alexis, who was looking at me with a smile.

"Are you okay Erika?" She asked. "You're blushing like mad."

I shook my head. "N-No, no! I'm fine! It's just now I have to uh…up my game!"

She shook her head and looked to the front.

"Okay everyone," The teacher stated. I knew it was Crowler so I didn't bother to look up. "Get your textbooks out and- JADEN YUKI STOP SLEEPING IN MY CLASS!!"

The instant he yelled, I couldn't help but look up. Crowler never yelled at his Obelisk Blues, just the Slifer Reds. It really irritated me but I guess Jaden deserved it; he was asleep.

"Y-Yes….Mr Crowler," Jaden instantly replied.

"Oh I can't watch," I said as I covered my eyes.

The room suddenly felt tense. I knew Crowler's blood was boiling. I peeked through my fingers and saw steam shooting through Crowler's ears. He was about to blow.

"THAT'S DOCTOR CROWLER TO YOU!" He yelled with his voice full of fury. "YOU'VE JUST EARNED YOURSELF A WEEKS WORTH OF DETENTIONS!!!"

"Awww man!" Jaden moaned.

The classroom was tense. Whenever Crowler asked a question I knew I felt like a frog was in my throat.

"Anyone know the answer?" Crowler asked the class, his eyes looking directly towards our group. "Oh, yes Zane. Please care to answer."

I looked towards Zane, who had just stood up. He clearly and calmly said the answer. His voice sounded as if this was natural to him. Of course it was natural for him.

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!" Crowler praised as Zane sat down.

"Pssst, Cyber Angel," Atticus nudged from beside me. I looked in his direction and saw him point to his work book. "Look at my awesome picture!"

I gazed at Atticus' drawing. "Uh, what is it?"

"It's all of us of course!" He instantly replied.

"But Atticus, they're neither full figures nor stick people," I told him. "And I don't think the four of us have only three fingers on each hand."

"It's an artist's interpretation!" He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So what are we doing?"

He pointed to the one on the far left of the page. It had long straight hair and a smile on its face. I could see that he clearly drew the figure with breasts and stick-like arms. It had a collar and 'v' shape line on the uniform. "This is sissy doing her work," he explained.

His finger then moved along to a figure with a grin on its circular face and straight scribbles for the fringe and hair. Unlike the first figure, this one's torso was flat but still had a collar and a 'v' shape on the uniform. It looked like it was doing something on…uh…something. "This is me. I'm drawing this masterpiece."

I giggled a little. "It doesn't look like a masterpiece in the picture."

"See, this is the drawing and this here is the pencil I'm holding," he explained, pointing out each thing he drew.

"Umm…It doesn't really look like it."

"Use your imagination," Atticus joked as he moved his finger to the one on the far right of the page. I tried to use my imagination to see what it was. I figured this person was Zane. It had layered hair and was standing up. The stick arms appeared very awkward, appearing out of a flat torso. Like the previous ones he had pointed out, this one had a collar and the 'v' shape on the uniform. A speech bubble was by him. Written in it was 'blah blah'. "This is Zane. He's answering Crowler, which is why he's saying blah, blah."

His finger wandered back towards the figure between his one and Alexis' one. It had wavy lines coming from its round head. Like the other three, it had a collar, stick arms and the 'v' shape for the uniform. Like the one Atticus said was Alexis, this figure had breasts so I guessed it was me. I don't know why he had hearts around my head. Creativity perhaps? "Now this one's you." He clearly explained. "You're going all 'lovey-dovey' over Zane."

I punched him in the arm. "Your drawing is inaccurate!"

He let out a laugh and tore it from his book. He folded it up and gave it to me. "Here you go. Happy White Day."

I took it from him and put it in my pocket. "Thanks."

"Now, keep that away from my fan girls okay?" He warned me. "If they found out I gave you something like a personalised drawing, they'd kill you."

I panicked a little. "Uh…Um…Thanks…I think…"


	29. Mystery: Zane's Gift

I was glad that class was over. I only answered a few questions. I felt so nervous throughout the lesson. Maybe it was because of Crowler's yelling? Maybe it was….No, that can't be it…

As I began to leave the classroom, I suddenly thought of the mysterious letter I got on Valentine's Day from my secret admirer. It's weird having a secret admirer. They're a person who knows you and loves you, yet you don't know who they are.... It seems kind of stalker-ish to me.

"Hey Erika," A couple of girls said at the same time. I jumped a little and turned around to see Jasmine and Mindy smiling at me.

"Hello you two," I greeted, giving both girls a hug. "How was class?"

"Perfect!" Mindy said in a daze.

Jasmine sighed as she put an arm on Mindy's shoulder. "Look at this one, falling in love. She's always doing this!"

"You can talk, Jaz," Mindy giggled. "You thought he was he was gorgeous too!"

"True. He is a cutie!"

I sighed. "Who is it this year?"

"Why Chazz Princeton of course," They both said at the same time. To me, they looked like scary fan girls; too happy and obsessed.

"Uh…Who's that?" I asked.

They looked at me in absolute shock. "Y-You don't know who Chazz is!?" I just shook my head.

I knew I had started something when Jasmine and Mindy went into extreme detail of his description. They used so many similes and metaphors that it was impossible to get a clear idea of what the guy looked like.

"Um…In English please," I asked, trying to hide my impatience.

"Black spiky hair, grey eyes," Jasmine said, trying her best to light a flame in my mind.

I thought for a while. There was only one guy who I knew looked like that. He's the guy who gave me a cold stare at try outs at the start of the year. "Does he have a cold stare?" I asked.

They looked amazed. "Yes! That's him!"

Mindy turned to Jasmine. "Jaz, can we go and find him, please!?"

Jasmine gave a sigh, "Yeah, okay. We'll catch up with you later Erika."

"Yay!" Mindy happily replied. "See ya Erika!"

I gave them a fake smile and waved. Those two got scarier and scarier each year. I'm sure it was going to get even worse next year.

I walked down the corridor to put my books away from class. Alexis had left to watch a duel that was going on in the Obelisk Blue duel arena. I'm sure she was just itching for a duel herself. I hope she got one.

Once I reached my locker, I leaned my books against the wall at the left side of the locker. I got a fright as I closed the locker door. There, behind it, was Zane Truesdale holding a bouquet of red roses. I'm sure my face was as red as the roses were.

"Oh, Zane, don't do that," I said, clutching my chest. "You gave me a fright."

"Are you okay?" He asked with eyes filled with calmness.

"I'll live."

"Well that's good to hear," he confessed. "We don't want these roses to go to waste."

I gasped. "Zane, are those for me?"

"Yeah," he said casually.

I smiled. My heart started to race as he handed the bouquet to me. "Zane, these are beautiful."

He smirked. "They're from your secret admirer."

"Really?" I asked.

Zane looked surprised. "I hope I didn't make you think that they were from me."

I shook my head, "n-no of course not."

Of course I was lying. My heart sank. I thought he had got me the roses but it was too good to be true.

"Well, tell him that I say thank you," I told Zane. "And that I want to figure out who he is."

He nodded. "I have something for you too. It's for White Day."

I blushed. "Really?"

Zane nodded his head and turned away from me. "Meet me at the lighthouse at ten tonight. There are duellists at night so bring your duel disk."

"Okay," I shyly replied as he walked away.

My heart began to race. Zane was going to give me a White Day gift!? He's returning the feelings? Maybe, like the roses, it's just too good to be true. I'll have to wait for later tonight to find out.

As I dried out my hair in the bathroom, I heard a banging on the door.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Hurry up in there," I heard a voice call. "You've been in there for, like, an hour!"

I opened the door and poked my head out. As soon as I did that, the door was barged open. I tumbled backwards from the force. Although I didn't fall over, the towel I was drying my hair with slipped so it covered my face.

"What was that about?" I asked.

The towel disappeared from my face. I looked ahead to see Alexis standing in front of me with her arms folded. She was holding my towel. "Erika, I want a shower and you've been in there for ages. Anyone would think you have a date."

I blushed. "Uh…N-No! It's nothing like that!"

Alexis grabbed the blow dryer and pulled me by my arm. "C'mon Erika, I'll do your hair. Just make it up to me by staying out of the bathroom for such a long amount of time."

The two of us wandered back into the bedroom. Alexis plugged in the blow waver and sat on her bed. As I sat down in front of her, she turned on the blow waver and started drying my hair. It felt weird when Alexis was blow waving my hair dry. No one, other than me, had done it in years so I wasn't used to this. Plus this was quite out of character on Alexis' behalf. She wasn't the type to do something like this, unless there was a motive. Maybe she wanted to duel me?

Alexis turned off the blow waver. "Hang on Erika, there's a lot of tangles in your hair. I'll be right back."

As she got up and walked away, I began to think. _"There's gotta be something she wants to know… Or maybe she's buying time so I won't go and meet up with Zane!"_ I gasped but shook my head. _"No, no! That's not Alexis! Erika, how can you possibly think that!?!"_

"Hey Erika, are you okay?" Alexis asked.

I looked around towards the bathroom but Alexis wasn't there.

"Uh…I'm behind you…"

I turned around and saw Alexis. I didn't know why but she held in her hands curling tongs. "Uh…Lex, what are you doing with those?" I asked pointing at the tongs.

"I'm gonna curl your hair," she replied.

"Who are you and what did you do to my best friend?"

She laughed and sprayed something through my hair. "Can't I be like this for once?"

"No," I replied. "It's strange for you."

I could feel the heat on my scalp. It didn't burn but the feeling was definitely there.

"There's one curl," she told me.

I looked at the time. It just reached nine fifteen. I had to be at the lighthouse in forty-five minutes. "Alexis, do you want something from me?"

She smiled a little. "I just want to ask you something."

There we go. The reason behind her being so out of character at last….

"You like someone don't you?" She said abruptly.

"N-No I don't," I told her. I didn't know whether I was being honest or not.

"Who is it?"

"I-I don't know," I told her.

"How can you not know?" She asked.

I gave a sigh. "I'm just having mixed emotions…"

"Can I just play this game with you?" She asked as she continued to curl my hair.

"Okay then," I said, giving up. I liked games so I guess that was my weak point. "What's the game?"

"Twenty Questions," she replied.

I nodded.

"Keep your head still," she scowled. "I'm still doing your hair."

"Oops! Sorry!" I said sincerely.

She sighed. "Okay, do you like a guy?"

"Yeah, of course," I told her.

"Is he in Slifer Red?"

"No," I sighed. I was sure that out of anything, Alexis would know who this person was. I guess not…

"Is he is Ra Yellow?" She asked.

"No," I replied.

"So that makes him an Obelisk Blue," she commented.

I sighed. "Of course, it's the only one left." She yanked on my hair. I winced a little. "Oww, Alexis! That counts as a question now!"

"Okay sorry," she said. "Umm…Is he a first year?"

"No, not a first year," I replied. I could tell she was thinking about this; she was curling my hair slowly.

"Please don't say it's Crowler," she complained.

"Heck no," I abruptly replied. The thought of that…It was just disgusting. I couldn't help but shudder. "Eww!"

"Is he in our age bracket?" She asked while playing with my newly formed curls a little.

"No," I replied.

"Has he given you any gifts?" She asked.

The question reminded me of something. I dug through my pockets and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Hey what's that?" Alexis asked. "Strategies I bet, can I have a look?"

"No," I told her, clutching the piece of paper tightly.

"Oh, that's harsh!" Alexis moaned. "I show you my class work."

As I gave a sigh, Alexis snatched the piece of paper from me. I gasped. "Alexis!"

She opened it up and gazed at it for a little while. "This is a really weird draw- hey, I'm sure that's my brother's handwriting!"

I looked back at her. "Lex, it's not what you think…"

"You like my brother don't you?" She asked.

"No way," I told her. "He's so confusing! Half the time he leaves me in a wonder."

She giggled a little as she finished up curling my hair. "Thinking of them is one of the developments to a crush."

"Alexis… Stop being out of character…"

"Fine, it was just that Jasmine and Mindy wanted me to find out who you liked," She told me. "They told me to act like them."

_"I should've known," _I thought. _"This has Jasmine and Mindy written all over it."_

Alexis unplugged the curling iron. "Okay, I'm gonna have a shower."

"Okay," I replied as she walked into the bathroom.

I grabbed the towel, which was now on the floor by Alexis' bed, and put it into the washing basket. I looked at the time. It read 9:47. I started to panic as I grabbed my duel disk and ran out the door.

It felt like ages as I ran towards the lighthouse. I knew that if I was late I'd feel really terrible. I couldn't keep Zane waiting. It's just not good. He might become really mad with me. Thoughts raced through my head as I competed with the small time bracket I was given. Time ticked by as I raced towards the lighthouse, now clearly in sight. I saw a figure there staring out to sea. It was obviously Zane.

I ran up towards him panting. "S-Sorry Z-Zane…Sorry I'm…Late."

I looked up to see his icy eyes lay upon me. "You're just on time."

I fell to the ground. "Oh thank goodness!"

"You look different," Zane told me.

I stood up and looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah," he calmly replied. "Your hair…"

I could feel my face heat up. I twisted my hair a little. "Yeah, um… Alexis did it."

He looked at me a little surprised. He then turned back towards the ocean. There was a little silence. "It suits you."

My heart skipped a beat. I felt so happy. "T-Thanks."

"Erika," he said. "I have something for you."

I blushed. Could this be it? Could he possibly have something for me?

"But to get it," he began as he turned to face me, "you'll have to beat me in a duel."


	30. Mystery: Her Promise

"A duel?" I questioned.

Zane nodded. "I want to see who the better duellist is."

This confused me. Obviously he's the better duellist. I mean he's been the top of Duel Academy ever since he started, according to Jake. There must be another motive behind it. "You're the better duellist," I admitted. "You've been at the top for ages and besides, you defeated me last year."

Zane ignored me and got his duel disk ready. "Let's duel."

I set my own duel disk up, ready for the duel. "Okay, let's do this."

Our life point meters were set to four-thousand. I drew my first five cards and watched Zane as he drew his first five cards. His eyes then flickered upon me. I felt chills creep up my spine as his cold eyes froze me in place. "I want to test something so you can go first."

"Since you put it that way, fine," I told him as I drew my card. I gazed into my hand and saw two spell cards amongst all of the monsters. This was beginning to become the perfect hand. "I'll activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck," I declared as I played the spell card. I then drew two cards from my deck and put them amongst the other five cards. Bingo. "I'll activate the spell card Polymerization to fuse the Cyber Dragon, Proto-Cyber Dragon, Cyber Phoenix and Cyber Laser Dragon in my hand to fusion summon Chimeratech Overdragon."

As I played my most powerful card, a hologram of the monster appeared in an abrupt storm of darkness. Its four heads peeked from amongst the mist as it landed on the field. A cry erupted from the monster that made the ground shake. Its attack and defence points rested at a powerful thirty-two thousand.

"I'll end my turn by setting a card face down," I declared as a hologram of a face down card appeared in front of me. "It's your move."

Zane drew his card. "I thought that would be your move. I'll defeat you in one turn."

It was surprising to know that he knew what I was going to do in my turn. But how did he know? I shook it off and gave him a smirk. "Try your best!"

I saw his cold face give me the slightest grin. "I'll activate the spell card Dark World Lightning. This card lets me select one face down card to be destroyed and I think I'll choose your face-down card on the field."

I gasped as a lightning reeked upon my face down card, shattering the hologram to pieces. I placed the face down card that Zane destroyed into the graveyard. It was rather irritating that he destroyed the only card protecting my monster. I was more than positive that he could eliminate it in one turn. But, can he defeat me in one turn? I doubt it! The odds are against him. I was lucky to be able to summon my monster in one turn so two miracles in a short duel is very unlikely.

"Because of this," he continued, "I have to send one card from my hand to the graveyard."

Zane placed a card from his hand into the graveyard, followed by the card Dark World Lightning that had been used. "I'll then activate the spell card Power Bond to fuse my three Cyber Dragons in my hand," he said, holding up the three Cyber Dragons in his hand. He followed this by putting the cards into the graveyard and drawing a fusion monster from his fusion deck. "I'll fuse them to create Cyber End Dragon."

Light shone upon the field, blinding my monster and I, as a three headed machine dragon was summoned. My eyes widened as I saw its final attack points – eight thousand thanks to Power Bond. I guess miracles can happen. Is it really a miracle or just a coincidence? Whatever it was, I was I was a goner. No doubt about that fact.

"Cyber End Dragon, attack her Chimeratech Overdragon with strident blast," Zane commanded his monster with his arm stretched out.

The monster's three heads produced a shining light ball in their mouths. The intensity of the light rose and rose until the three began to form into a final blast. There was nothing I could do to save my monster. My face down trap, Mirror Force, had been destroyed and I had no cards in my hand. Cyber End Dragon's strident blast shot straight towards Chimeratech Overdragon. Before I knew it, the powerful force shattered my monster into pieces, and my life points along with it.

The blast was blinding and so powerful that my legs felt as if they were about to collapse underneath me. I tried my best to remain standing but gravity took its toll and I fell to the ground. I felt weak and irresponsible using my cards like that. How could I do such a thing?

"Erika," Zane said as he approached. I looked up to see his cold eyes lay upon me. "Your strength is your weakness. Do you understand that?"

I was speechless. I tried to speak but no words would leave my mouth.

"You're only relying on one strategy and that's your downfall as a duellist. You only depend on your rarest and strongest card for a win but that card there is your biggest weakness."

"I know that now," I muttered in disappointment. "I don't know what I've been thinking."

"You don't deserve a deck like this," he told me bluntly. "This duel showed me that you're immature. You're not thinking about using your cards properly. You can't just use a card, that's not enough. It shows that you're an immature and irresponsible duellist."

I felt shocked. Is this what the truth is like? Whatever it was, I couldn't show Zane my emotions no matter what. I got to my feet and fumbled around with my deck, taking out my machines. I then handed them to Zane. "Here, take them."

He looked a little surprised with my drastic actions but didn't ask a single question when he took the cards.

"Keep them," I told him. "I don't deserve their power."

A chuckle slipped out as he gave me a smirk. "I see you understand what I'm talking about then."

I nodded. "I promise you, I will become a worthy duellist and not a one trick pony."

He turned away and smiled. "Just don't disappoint me again."

"Thank you," I replied before making my way back to the girls' dorms.

As I walked back to the dorms, I felt my hear begin to rip. I know that he's passionate about duelling and would want people to deserve to duel. I understand where I went wrong and what he means but why in the world did his coldness hurt me so much?

Once at the dorms, I crept quietly up the stairs. If Miss Fontaine caught me on my way back to my room, I'd have detention for sure! The sound of my footsteps upon the carpet echoed down the empty corridor as I tiptoed towards my room. It always seemed that doing things slowly made the sound seem much louder. However, as I turned the handle to the dorm room and snuck in, the sounds stopped as soon as the door closed behind me. I leaned against the door and sighed in relief.

The room was dark. I assumed that Alexis was in bed asleep. That was a relief. I don't think I could handle some kind of 'where have you been lecture' or whatever. I slid down to the floor and held my face in my hands. I never thought that Zane would ever be so cold to me. He was right but it hurt deep in my heart. As I felt my eyes watered up I tried my best not to let them roll down my cheeks. I wiped my eyes and gave a sigh.

"Erika, don't take things so harshly," a voice softly whispered.

I looked up towards Alexis' bed. However, the girl was still fast asleep. A soft golden light lit up from my pocket. Quickly I fondled through my pocket to find my cards. On top of the pile was Fairywitch, glowing golden like the sun. The light faded and the spirit of Fairywitch appeared before me. She gave me a gentle smile.

"He's just helping you out," she told me.

I looked down towards the ground and thought in the silence.

"Stop being a baby!" The monster sternly said, putting her hands on her hips. "Take this as an opportunity to be yourself."

I and gazed at the spirit in front of me. "What do you mean?"

"You have to find that out, Erika. Only you can truly figure out who you are as a duellist."

I gave a heavy sigh. "I guess…"

"Erika, it's okay. You can let your emotions out," Fairywitch advised.

I shook my head. "No, I can't let them show."

"Okay, okay, let's tackle one problem at a time," the woman said as she fixed her witches hat. "Let's start out with a new deck. There's no reason to sulk when you can just start anew."

I nodded. "Is this how I can find myself as a duellist?"

Fairywitch's pink wings twitched up. "Yes. Now are you going to get started?"

I immediately stood up. "Yeah, you're right. This time I will construct a deck that is truly mine. I promise that it'll be a deck that will show everyone who I am."


	31. Mystery: New Beginnings

Light shone from a peek through the curtains and upon the bed of a sleeping girl. She tossed and turned and gently allowed the sun's kiss to embrace her eyes. As she sat up in bed, she gazed upon an empty bed beside her. Thinking nothing of it, she threw her legs out of her bed, ready for another day at duel academy.

"Oww, Alexis! Watch where you're swinging your feet okay?" A friendly voice said.

Alexis looked down towards the space between the two beds to find the whole space covered in duel monsters cards. Amongst the disaster zone was her friend lying amongst the mess, rubbing her mug of curly brown hair.

"Erika, what are you doing down there?" Alexis immediately asked. "Your cards are everywhere."

"I know," the girl known as Erika replied. "I couldn't get any sleep until this was done."

Looking at her friend, Alexis gave a sigh. "Don't be so stupid. If you want to study, do it in reasonable hours." This was a typical thing her friend did so she wasn't too surprised at this.

"No, I'm trying to compose a deck," Erika confessed. "I need a change."

This was now strange to Alexis. She studied Erika for a little while before discovering something new about this friend of hers. "Erika, you eyes are all red! Have you been crying?"

Erika looked rather surprised and put her hands over her eyes. She then let out a laugh. "Don't worry Lex, I'm fine!"

"If you say so," Alexis replied as she got out of bed. Being careful to avoid Erika's cards, she tip toed through the mess towards the wardrobe. Personally, Alexis wouldn't be too happy if someone stood on her cards so she treated Erika's the way she'd want hers to be treated; with respect.

Alexis opened her wardrobe and pulled out an Obelisk Blue uniform. She then went in through the bathroom to get ready for her lessons.

As for Erika, she remained on the floor studying her cards while Alexis was in the bathroom. She could hear the sound of water forcefully hitting the ground. To her guess, Alexis was having a shower. This was good for her as she could now go through with her plans.

"Okay Fairywitch, I can talk now," she whispered.

"Like I said, I warned you about this year," a voice replied.

Erika smiled at the spirit of her favourite monster. "Yes I know… But what do you think about these cards?"

"Well," the woman began, whilst fixing her maroon witches hat to a less crooked position, "it's all up to you. You're the one using this deck so do in your heart what you feel should be in there."

"Okay," Erika replied, as she sorted through her cards. She didn't have much time left. Since her duel from Zane that night, she had stayed up thinking and thinking about what cards she should use. As she continued to compose her deck, she discussed her feelings to her spirit monster who guided her on her path.

As Alexis stepped out of the bathroom, she heard Erika's words.

"Yes, I promise I'll do my best."

"Umm, Erika," Alexis stared as she combed her long blonde hair through her fingers, "who are you talking to." No one else was in the room so this was very strange.

Erika looked up and giggled. "Oh I was…uh…Just thinking out loud!"

"Well the bathroom's all yours," Alexis told her friend.

"Thanks," Erika replied as she quickly sorted out her cards in two different piles before getting up and putting them on her bed.

As Erika grabbed her Obelisk Blue uniform and headed for the bathroom, Alexis gazed upon the cards lying on her bed. Knowing it wouldn't be very polite as a duellist, Alexis left them alone. "Erika, I'm gonna head out okay?"

"Okay," Erika's voice came from in the bathroom. "See you in class."

Amongst the time she had to get ready, Alexis had eaten her breakfast and finished getting ready for class. During that time, she thought about two things: duelling and in what way her brother would embarrass her that day. These thoughts continued to eat away at her as she wandered down the corridor towards her locker.

"Hey Alexis," a voice said.

She spun around to see Erika's brother, Jake. She knew that wherever he was, Atticus would soon be. The embarrassment was soon to come and she could feel it.

"Morning, Jake," Alexis greeted. "What have you got first for today?"

"Class, class, class: Is that all you think about?" Jake cheekily asked the girl.

"No actually," Alexis bluntly replied. His sarcastic comments bugged her a little but she didn't make it into a big deal. "Duelling is always a subject on my mind."

Jake let out a laugh. "That sounds about right there."

She nodded. "Have you seen my brother around?"

He thought for a second. "Umm…Atti… Yeah. He just went off to his locker," He pointed behind Alexis, showing her the direction her brother was in. "Why's that?"

"Oh I was just wondering," she confessed.

"Morning Sissy," a cheerful voice echoed down the corridor.

Alexis looked behind her to see the happy shining mug of her older brother approaching her. Yes. This was her embarrassment for the day.

"Morning Atti," Alexis replied, giving her brother a hug. Sure he embarrassed her sometimes but she loved him none the less.

"Hey, Lex, I've been thinking," Atticus told his sister. "I should set you up with someone."

"I'm off to class."

Both Atticus and Jake watched her walk off. Jake looked towards Atticus. "Wasn't that a bit too abrupt?"

Atticus shrugged. "She'll be over it. I can get away with that as I'm her older brother!"

"Don't abuse the power of the big brother," Jake warned. "Abuse it too much and they'll start wishing you were mute."

Atticus let out a laugh. At the same time, a small group of Slifer Red boys overheard the conversation. Two of the boys were Jaden and Syrus but the third looked as if he was new. He had a turquoise cap on. He looked much smaller and petite compared to Jaden and even Syrus.

"Blair, those guys are in the Obelisk Blue dorm," Jaden told the boy known as Blair. "One of them is our friend Alexis' brother while the other one is our other friend Erika's brother… I think."

Blair nodded but didn't seem interested in the matter. His eyes seemed to be focused on everywhere else but what the boys were talking about.

A large group of duellists, from all different dorms, were gathered in one of the biggest lecture rooms in the school. A very large television showed Chancellor Sheppard upon it. The man seemed as if he had an important message to tell the students.

"Now the big match up against our rival school, North Academy is coming up," He announced. "Last year's student representative, Zane, whooped them good."

Erika shuddered as Chancellor Sheppard continued his message. To herself, her personality was different. For one, the best friend she was in love with now gave her the chills. Could all of this change because of one guy? She shook her head and turned back towards the screen.

Syrus turned to Blair and whispered to him secretly. "Hey Blair, did you know Zane's my brother?"

"Really?" Blair said in amazement.

"Yeah he's pretty cool but mum says I've got the looks."

"Now we still haven't decided on who's going to represent us this year," Chancellor Sheppard continued. "So, if you keep hitting those books and duelling hard, you may be the one who gets the honour."

The screen went black and the students immediately went to talk amongst themselves.

"Whoa, did you hear that!?" Jaden asked. "It could be me!"

"Or me," Syrus said in a huff. "But it'll probably be Zane again."

Jaden looked a little surprised. "Uh...Why?"

Blair looked over towards Zane. "Because he's amazing!"

Alexis walked down the corridor alone. The sound of her boots echoed around as they hit the cold lino.

"Hey Alexis," A voice said nervously, placing a hand upon her shoulder.

Alexis jumped and instantly turned around. She was surprised to see Erika behind her. She gave a sigh of relief as she clutched her chest. "Erika, don't do that. You gave me a fright."

""I'm sorry," Erika apologized. Her face went slightly pink. "Alexis, could you come to the Obelisk Boys dorm with me?"

This confused Alexis a lot. Why would Erika need to go there? Perhaps she needed to see her brother. Yeah, to Alexis this reason was the most likely but she thought that it would be better to ask her. "Why?"

Erika's face went a deeper shade of pink. "Uh…I-I just need to check if my new deck is okay."

"I've got extra lessons on soon so I can't, sorry," Alexis replied with a sincere tone.

"Oh, okay," Erika said in disappointment. She then looked at her friend and gave her a kind smile. "Thanks anyway." She then gave her a wave before running off.

"How should I ask it?" Erika muttered to herself as she drew closer to the Obelisk Blue boy's dorms. "I changed my deck, what do you think? No, I can't ask like that…Uh...How about…"

As she approached the dorms, a girl from Slifer Red rushed passed her. The girl had long dark grey hair that reminded her of Mindy's hair. She also wore a turquoise cap on her head. She was running away from the Obelisk dorms so it was obvious that something was happening there.

"Crowler, Crowler, help!" A boy's voice shouted. Erika immediately recognised it as Jaden's. He must be desperate for help if he was calling out for the one person that hated him the most in the school.

"Erika, you should go and help him," the spirit of Fairywitch suddenly said as she appeared alongside Erika.

Erika gave her a nod and ran towards the entrance to the boy's dorms.

Once inside, Erika gazed around at the surroundings. Just like the girls' dorms, the boys' dorms were very lavish and well decorated. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the tiles looked as if they were glistening of gold. Obelisk Blue boys were around the place chatting and even duelling.

"Over there," Fairywitch pointed towards a set of stairs.

Erika nodded and headed towards the staircase.

"What's a girl doing here?" An abrupt voice questioned.

Erika froze and turned to face the voice. Glaring back at her was a boy in a long dark blue Obelisk Blue trench coat. As soon as she saw his face she automatically knew who he was now. This guy standing in front of her was Chazz Princeton – the desire in Jasmine and Mindy's hearts.

"Uh, I've c-come to see my friend," Erika nervously replied.

Chazz gave her a cold glare with his dark grey eyes. His eyes then wandered beside Erika and then back towards her.

Erika looked at the boy puzzled. "What?"

As if his cold glare wasn't cold enough, Chazz gave her a harsher glare. If he was Medusa, Erika would be solid stone by now. "Get out of my sight," he coldly told her. "I can't stand the sight of you."

Confused about this boy, Erika did as he wished and headed up the stairs. She followed Fairywitch who lead her towards Jaden.

In the corridor, Jaden suddenly burst out of a room. He looked at Erika and wondered why she was here. At the same time, Erika wondered why Jaden was there.

"Erika, what are you doing here?" Jaden immediately asked. His voice filled with curiosity.

"I could ask you the same thing," Erika immediately replied.

"Well I'm 'outta here," Jaden said as he dashed passed the girl. "I don't want to be in any more trouble than I already am."

She looked back, watching him run away, and then towards the door he had stormed out of. Erika peeked around the corner to see Zane picking up his cards. She didn't know whether she should intrude or leave.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" A male voice said aloud.

Erika looked in its direction and saw that it was coming from one of the boys in the room. She was spotted. She shyly slipped into the room and gave the two of Zane's friends a polite smile. "Uh Hiya…?"

"What's a girl doing here?" The second boy asked.

"Were you the one that did this?" The first asked.

Erika began to panic. "Uh...N-No…Umm…I…"

"Erika, what are you doing here?"

Erika turned away from the boys to see no other than Zane Truesdale standing in front of her. She gasped at the duellist and tried to find her words. "I-I came here to see you…"

"Well I have other things to deal with now so it'll have to wait," he said rather bluntly. His eyes now upon the cards scattered by his bed side draw.

Her eyes glanced in the same direction. Cards such as Zane's Power Bond, Cyber Phoenix and even Cyber End Dragon were scattered amongst the other cards that made up his deck. However, amongst the mess was a rather unusual item.

It seemed as if her eyes were not the only ones that spotted this item but Zane's as well. He extended his arm to pick up the item, his hand clenching it tight.

"Erika, can you and Alexis meet me at the lighthouse tonight?" He asked. "I'd like both of your opinions on something if that's okay."

As he turned to look at the girl, her cheeks turned a little pink. "Uh yeah, okay. I'll let Alexis know."

She turned around to head out the room.

"Erika," Zane's voice said, stopping Erika in her tracks.

Erika turned around and looked back at the young man. "Yeah?"

"What is it you wanted?"

"Oh," she said looking down at her feet. Her eyes then looked directly into his. She had a look of determination on her face which he knew all too well. "I've remade my deck. I think it shows who I truly am now."

He smirked a little. "Well I'm glad to hear that you listened to what I said."

She gave him a nod and headed out of the room. She began to think as she wandered back to her own dorms. _"How can I not think about what you told me?"_ She thought. _"Out of all the duellists in this academy, I care about your opinions the most."_


	32. Mystery: Memory of a Nightmare

Important note: This is chapter 33. Chapter 32 is only avaliable through Quizilla. Read my profile for more information.

His crimson eyes burned deeply into hers from amongst the darkness. "You sure you wouldn't rather be my bride?"

She looked into her hand filled with cards. She was waiting for something but what? The cards were all blank. She looked back up towards her opponent. No one was there.

"Erika, I presume?" His voice echoed. It gave her the chills.

Erika looked around her surroundings. She was alone in the forest. However, it didn't feel that way. Her eyes flashed of black. Alexis' body lay on the ground as her vision came back.

"Alexis!" Erika yelled as she ran to her friend. She took off in a sprint to save Alexis. To her surprise, the stretch of forest she ran through brought her no further to closer to the helpless girl; Alexis was further away than ever. She got to her feet and glanced back at Erika. Erika stopped and gazed back at her friend, who vanished in a puff of smoke.

"See through deceptions…deceptions…deceptions…" His voice echoed.

Her vision went blank. Her eyes opened as she matched the penetrating gaze of his crimson eyes, trying to burn deep into her soul.

"Did you know I was a prince?"

His words echoed amongst the darkness as he vanished. Everything went black. All she could hear was a dark cackle amongst the shadows as a dragon's head appeared amongst the darkness, followed by its body. She looked amongst her hand of cards and saw, yet again, blank cards. She had to wait for something. She needed to. Blood trickled down her arm. She spat blood. This was nearly too much. She had to hang in there for him. The Dragon let out a mighty roar with attack of nine thousand. Rainbow Dark Dragon; a very powerful monster… But she had to wait.

Erika's body became restricted as darkness swept over. Crimson eyes came into site once again as she felt a hand on her chin. The eyes vanished and she was free to move once again. She gasped for air. His power was supernatural.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Bodies of students littered steps. She didn't know where she was but it was amongst the darkness. His eyes flickered amongst the dark abyss yet again. And that smile, the single fanged smile of a demon. Her sight blurred as she felt herself falling backwards, hearing his evil laugh amongst the shadows.

Erika sat up, her face full of sweat. Her breathing was erratic as she held her heart tight. She looked around to see the four walls of the dorm room she stayed in with Alexis, who was sleeping in her own bed beside hers. A deep breath in and out Erika took as she tried to calm herself from the nightmares she had been having for weeks, reliving reality in her dreams.

"It's only a nightmare, Erika," she whispered to herself. "He's not coming back for you."

She lay back down in her bed. The spirit of Fairywitch flittered by.

"Another nightmare? They're becoming more and more frequent," Fairywitch told the girl.

Erika nodded. "I hate that guy, whoever he is…. 'Prince'."

The sounds of birds chirped from amongst outside. It was too late to go back to sleep. Today was a big day at Duel Academy and nightmares didn't help. She fell backwards, falling into her pillow as she gazed upon the ceiling.

Alexis stretched out in her bed and let out a yawn. She sat up and looked at the bed beside her. There she saw her friend Erika lying in bed, drawing in the air.

"Good morning, Erika," Alexis said, slightly sleepy. "I'm surprised you're awake before me."

"Morning Lex," Erika greeted as she continued drawing in the air. "I've been up for a while."

"Another nightmare?"

"Yeah. I'm getting sick of them."

"You did the right thing though, Erika."

Erika turned and looked towards Alexis. "Of course I did. I promised him I'd save his brother. How couldn't I?"

Alexis got out of bed and opened the curtains. Light flooded the room, burning brightly.

Erika gasped. "Please warn me when you do that, my eyes need to adjust."

"Maybe you need to stay out of the darkness, Erika."

A frown hit Erika's face as memories of that day flooded into her mind. The crimson eyes of his burned were etched into her memory. And the bodies… The lifeless bodies of students from the academy on the steps. She never shared the intimate details with anyone, just the duel and the result of that duel. She rolled up her sleeve from her t-shirt and saw the slight graze where she had been cut from that duel. The duel was like no other she had ever had. Yet she remained so confident. She had to. It wasn't the kind of duel to show weakness and he wasn't the opponent to let fear slip away from his fingers. He was the type to pick at each and every weakness she had. She felt that when they duelled.

"I never want to have a duel like that ever again," she told Alexis. "Never again…"

Alexis looked over towards her friend who was looking towards the wardrobe with serious eyes. She could tell that Erika's mind had flicked back to that duel. To brighten up the sombre girl, Alexis changed the subject. "You know what today is, don't you?"

Erika gave her smile. "Yeah, it's camp day today. I can't wait to feel that ocean breeze through my hair!"

"I just like the idea of duelling on a ship," Alexis confessed. "Out at sea instead of on the island; it should be a good trip."

Since the summer was approaching, selected students at Duel Academy had the opportunity to duel for a school trip to explore and duel in a paradise away from the school. From that amount, Erika and Alexis were two of the lucky duellists. The girls got dressed, packed their bags and headed towards the pier.

"Hey Lex," Erika asked her friend as they reached the pier.

Alexis turned towards her friend. "Hmm?"

"Do you feel like you're missing something?

The blonde girl thought for a moment. There wasn't really anything that she could think of. "Umm… The only thing I can think of is how we skipped breakfast."

Erika gasped. "Oh Lex, I'm sorry! That must've been it!"

A smile hit Alexis' face. "It doesn't matter. We're on time. It doesn't look like anyone else is here though."

Both girls gazed around the pier. No one was there except the ship to take them to paradise. It was unusual as they were at the right place at the right time. Alexis looked upon the ship. "Erika, do you think everyone will be inside?"

"Umm…I don't think so…Do you think we should look aboard?" Erika questioned, sounding very uncertain about the situation.

"Let's wait a little while, then I'll check out the ship," Alexis decided. "I don't want them to leave without us."

"But if I leave, he'll get all the girls!" A voice shouted from in the distance.

"Yeah, you can't make us go on this trip! I don't want him to hog all the girls!" Another shouted alongside the first.

"Grow up you two, they probably need a break from you both," a calmer voice replied to the other two.

"Yeah, a break from you guys and all for me," a somewhat cocky voiced bragged.

"Reno, you're not helping them," the calm voice scalded.

Erika and Alexis looked towards the four figures coming towards them. Their instinct was to run away instantly from two of the figures. The two young men complaining happened to be their brothers, Jake and Atticus respectively. The calm Zane was with the two, pulling them along while another young man with red hair followed close behind, with his hands behind his head.

Atticus smiled at the two girls. "Sissy, Cyber Angel, I'm glad to see you two!"

Alexis rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I love you Atti but sometimes your actions speak louder than words."

"Oh, I'm not Cyber Angel anymore," Erika told the young man. "I changed my deck. I thought you knew that."

"Yeah I know," Atticus smiled. "The name sticks so it shall stay."

"By the way," Jake stepped in. "Have you guys met Reno?"

"No I haven't," Alexis stated.

"Yeah," Erika nodded.

Both Jake and Alexis looked towards the brunette girl, who smiled towards Reno.

"How's Oliver?" Erika asked.

Reno lowered his hands from his head and placed them in his pockets. "He's better than what he was…You know…"

Erika saw Reno's bronze eyes grow more serious. She knew what he was talking about, and so did Atticus and Zane. "I'm glad," she replied, trying not to draw attention from the clueless Jake and Alexis.

"How do you guys know each other?" Jake instantly asked, glaring at the young red haired man.

"Chancellor Sheppard's office," Zane replied. "Atticus and I were there too." Atticus gave a nod to show he agreed.

"Okay," Jake said as he dropped his bag to the ground. "Reno, please leave some girls for me and Atticus."

"It depends," Reno cheekily replied, "I wonder if the women can resist my charms."

Zane took both Jake and Atticus' bags, along with his own, and climbed aboard the ship. "I have your stuff guys." As he wandered further into the ship, the three boys started to bicker over who could please the ladies more.

Alexis glanced towards Erika and waved her head towards the ship. Erika nodded as she followed Alexis aboard the ship.

"Wait!"

Both of the girls turned around to see that the boys had stopped squabbling. Erika's eyes instantly drew to Reno's.

"Erika, can I talk to you for a moment, alone?"

Erika nodded as the rest of the group boarded the ship. Treading off the ship, Erika came face to face with him.

"Do you remember what I told you when you volunteered to save my brother?" He asked.

Erika traced back along her memory. Somehow, her gut feeling told her that it was a rhetorical question. She looked back at him and awaited his reply.

"Everyone who gets involved is a victim of his," he informed her. "Don't let him take control."

Her eyes had the determined look he remembered her for. "I won't."

"Have you seen him since then?"

"Only in my dreams but-"

Reno held Erika by her arms and looked her in the eyes. The bronze gems glared angrily into hers. "Do not let him seep into your mind. He will devour it. If he takes control of my brother again…" His hands let go of her arms and wandered back down to his sides. "I don't know who could save him if I can't."

"Nothing will happen to Oliver," Erika told him. "He's strong and knows what he's in for. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"But you don't know the darkness."

"I may not," she replied. "But I know he's strong. It's just a feeling I have."

Reno gave a nod. Erika gave him a soft smile as she boarded the ship.

"Okay students," Professor Banner told the small group. "We're just waiting for two more students and then we'll be taking off."

Erika's eyes were upon the fat ginger tabby cat Banner held in his arms. Pharaoh his name was. She always had affection for cats but who would bring a cat on a ship? Erika looked around the cabin the group was in. There weren't many students on board. Besides herself, Alexis, Zane, Atticus and Jake, there was the boy with black hair that she stumbled upon in the boy's dorms, Chazz. However, he was now sporting a black coat instead of an Obelisk Blue one. A boy from Ra Yellow who she didn't know was also in the room with them. The Ra Yellow boy had silvery hair that was sleeked on one side. His dark grey eyes were studying the room and upon his competition. She had a feeling that he was like herself; a student determined to achieve to the highest they can in studies. Well, she thought she was like that… Or had she changed now that she had fallen in love with her best friend and duelled in the darkness. Her thoughts wrapped around this confusing puzzle.

"Hey Professor Banner, sorry we're late," a familiar voice said.

"Jay, I told you to set your alarm," a light blue haired boy told the brunette boy who greeted Banner.

"Why the hell are they here!" Chazz said in a rage as he got to his feet.

"Chazz," Banner began. "If you don't remember correctly, you are also in Slifer too."

Chazz huffed. "Yeah, for the meantime… Just because I left the academy and came back…I'm still the Chazz no matter what. Don't compare me to some slackers!"

"Awww don't be that way Chazz," Jaden exclaimed. "We're buddies after all!" Erika was unsure if that was sarcasm or seriousness.

"Well, now that everyone is here, we can set sail," Banner told the group of duellists as he walked towards the captain's quarters to inform that they can now begin their journey.


	33. Mystery: The Storm

The sea breeze blew through Erika's hair as she drew her card. She was in a duel against Alexis at the back of the ship. None of the other duellists were around so that pleased her; it would only show Alexis her new deck. Alexis had the upper hand, with her signature monster, Cyber Blader, on the field. Erika had Dunames Dark Witch and Zeradias, Hearld of Heaven on the field in defence mode. The field spell card The Sanctuary in the Sky was also in play. Her trap card, Negate Attack, had prolonged her some time to draw the right card to finish Alexis off. She just needed the luck.

With fingers over her deck, Erika drew her card. She smiled happily at the card she had drawn. "Okay Alexis, this is where it ends."

"Okay, let's see what you have," Alexis smiled.

"First I'll play the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face down card," Erika declared as the only card on Alexis' side of the field was vaporised. "I then sacrifice my two monsters to summon Splendid Venus to the field." With that, Erika's two monsters disappeared and a new monster appeared in their place. Her body shined of golden armour as her white wings spread out as she landed upon the field with twenty-eight hundred attack points. "Because of Splendid Venus' special effect, your Cyber Blader's attack and defence point drop down by five hundred as she isn't a fairy."

Alexis flinched a little as Cyber Blader's attack decreased down to sixteen hundred. This was shattering for Alexis because even though Cyber Blader can't be destroyed, Splendid Venus could attack and wipe out the twelve hundred life points she had left.

"Splendid Venus, attack Cyber Blader," Erika declared. The monster leapt up into the air and spread out her wings. She pointed her sceptre towards Cyber Blader. A shining light shone from it, enveloping the field in light. In a few seconds, the field was back to normal and Alexis' life points decreased to zero.

"So an angel deck, Erika," Alexis commented. "It's pretty strong."

She approached Erika to congratulate her for her win. However, the girl was motionless. "Erika! Are you okay?"

With that, Erika fell to the floor.

Her eyes flickered open. The night sky gazed at her from above. The clouds had the appearance as if they would burst at any second. She got to her feet and looked around. She was in an alleyway, now facing the rough brick wall. Paranoia fell upon her once she got to her feet. Shadows lurked at the entrance. Her head span around to look upon the dark figure that was now standing at the entrance. The clouds burst, erupting with heavy rain, falling upon the ground in a downpour. Her eyes never left the figure as his footsteps walked in her direction. She knew it was the prince; the one who she defeated in the shadows to save Reno's brother, Oliver. By the look on his face, Erika could tell he wanted revenge.

"Watch out Erika," his voice echoed. "I'll get my revenge on you."

With that, Erika was now facing herself, as if she was looking into a mirror. However her reflection had closed eyes.

"You're mine!"

Erika looked at her reflection, who now had open eyes. The Erika in front of her glared with crimson eyes into her own. She gave a smile, bearing a single fang.

Erika sat up instantly, breathing erratically. She could feel the sweat on her forehead as her heart raced. It was yet another nightmare and another image of the prince. She rubbed her eyes with her palms and stepped out her bed. Still in uniform, Erika got to her feet and made her way to the door moving side to side with the ship as she headed outside.

As she wandered out of her room and down the corridor to reach the outer deck, her eyes rested upon the dark night sky. It frightened her so. The rain was falling heavily and the waves crashed with ferocity upon the ship.

"This way," Fairywitch told the girl, leading her in a direction. She nodded and followed the spirit. Once at the destination, not too far from where she was were the other students alongside Professor Banner.

"Erika," Alexis said in surprise as she rushed beside her friend. "We don't know what's happening. This weather just came out of nowhere."

"Now students," Banner said, holding his cat in his arms. "The forecast all week for both our location and at the academy was for perfect weather. This has taken a drastic turn but we should all be okay."

"Urgg, I think I'm gonna be sick…" Syrus said, clutching his stomach.

"Just don't spew all over me," an annoyed Chazz told the boy.

"But Professor, the storm appears to be getting worse," the boy in Ra Yellow informed Banner.

"Yes it is, Bastion," Banner replied. "I'll have to ask the captain about what he's going to do."

"Is that an island over there?" Jake pointed out in the distance. All the other students looked towards the spot and gasped.

"Wow, Jake has good eyes," a cheeky Atticus commented.

The students looked around for Banner who had disappeared.

"Oooooh imagine if we ended up on that island stranded!" Jaden said, enjoying the thought of an adventure. "And then we had to duel the natives of the island in order to survive! That would be awesome!"

"J-jay, don't say things like that!" A worried Syrus told him. "That wouldn't be fun!"

The waves crashed hard against the ship. A few of the students got frightened as Banner returned.

"Professor, what did the captain say?" An always calm Zane asked.

"I told him about the island," Banner replied. "It's a little off course but if we can land there safely, we can lay out the storm until it clears up. Until then, put on a lifejacket if you're out here."

He patted his own and pointed out where the lifejackets were as students handed them out to each other.

"So, we'll be okay right Professor?" Erika asked, feeling a little anxious.

"We should be," Banner replied, bringing relief to the students. "But the captain said that this storm is the worst he's ever been out in."

"Oh gosh," Erika said as she held the closest person to her tight.

"Uh, Erika..."

Erika, who had her eyes closed tight, looked up at the person she was holding onto. Expecting it to be Alexis she gazed up into the calm eyes of Zane. She blushed and let go. "I-I'm sorry…"

"Students, why don't you all head to your rooms?" Banner suggested. "I'll stay up and update you all when the storm clears."

"That's fine with me," Jaden said casually as he headed back inside the ship.

"Wait up Jay!" A nervous Syrus followed behind.

"Yeah, this rocking is making me sleepy," Jake yawned.

"Is that what happens when you're with the ladies?" Atticus cheekily asked.

"Oh shut up!" Jake replied as the two of them bickered to their rooms.

"I think I might go back to my room," Erika decided. "Looking at these waves makes me nervous…"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Zane commented. "I think I'll try to get some rest."

Erika and Zane both headed inside the ship towards their cabins.

"Erika," Zane said.

"Hmm?"

"Can we talk?"

Erika felt her face grow red. "Yeah, sure. Where abouts?"

"Well my rooms at the end of the hall," he replied.

Erika's cheeks were tomatoes. "W-well my room is right there." She pointed towards her room.

The two of them cautiously walked down the corridor towards Erika's room, being careful from the ships rocking. Once inside, Erika turned on the light, took off her lifejacket and sat on her bed.

"So what's up?" Erika asked.

"Are you okay?" Zane questioned.

"Yeah I am," she replied with her typical cheery smile.

He frowned. "I know that's not the case." She gasped as he continued to explain his theory. "I have this feeling that you're not okay."

Erika didn't reply. Her silence was enough of an answer for him.

"It's what happened in the forest wasn't it?"

She let out another gasp and held onto her arm, the one that was hurt during her duel with the prince. "Y-Yeah…"

Zane sat down beside her and sighed. "We're dealing with something more than normal. Both Atticus and I know that. When you were saving Reno's brother, Atticus and I were trapped by a force field that separated us from you. But both Chancellor Sheppard and Reno said that it wasn't the average case."

"I know," Erika replied. "That duel wasn't the average duel…H-He wasn't an average opponent… Everything was dark…A-And the students… T-The bodies…All the bodies…"

Zane gasped. He didn't know what to do. The always smiling girl he knew was sitting beside him, about to break down. He wrapped his arms around her in comfort. "Don't let the darkness into your heart, Erika," he calmly told her. "You're too good for that."

She blushed and closed her eyes as the tears streamed down her cheeks.


	34. Mystery: The Island

Erika opened her eyes and found herself lying in bed. She gasped and sat up. _"What happened?"_ She thought. _"Was that all just a dream?"_ Looking down at herself, Erika saw she was still dressed in uniform. She gave a sigh and threw her feet over the edge of the bed, finding her shoes neatly placed beside her bed. After putting them on, she got off the bed and found her duel disk and deck upon a small chest of draws. Unusually, the ship wasn't rocking as harsh as she remembered it to. Maybe it was a dream? Shaking the thoughts off, Erika put on her duel disk.

"Something doesn't seem right," the spirit of Fairywitch commented. Erika turned to look at the witch with brimming pink wings. "I sense a dark presence."

The spirit vanished into thin air. Erika looked around with surprise. With a sudden paranoia rushing through her, she dashed out of the door. An eerie presence was in the corridor, which gave her the chills. Was it him? No, it couldn't be; this eerie feeling was unlike his – his was much creepier. This feeling was as if something was wrong, or that's what Erika felt.

Erika came to the cabin door beside hers and knocked a few times. "Hello?" No response. She knocked harder with more taps. "Hello…?" Yet again, there was no response. She opened the door and peeked into the cabin. "Hello?" After inviting herself in, Erika found an unmade bed and bags on the floor. Besides that the room was empty. She gave a sigh and headed out the door.

"No one's in their rooms," a small voice said.

Erika jumped and turned around to see Fairywitch hovering in the air. She clutched her chest and sighed in relief. "You gave me a fright there…. Wait… What do you mean?"

"No one's on board the ship either. The anchor has been dropped but no boats have left," the duel monster spirit continued. "I went to check out the presence and found the place deserted. I think you should look outside."

Wandering to the outer deck, Erika gasped as the sunlight glared into her eyes. She glanced around and saw the ship had landed metres away from the shoreline of an island. It looked like paradise, with tropical bush hiding a mountain top in its centre. "Fairywitch, this place is amazing!"

"Don't be fooled," the monster warned. "It looks beautiful but there's a dark presence I can sense. Can't you feel it?"

Erika shook her head. "No I can't. Maybe we should just wait here."

"Go and find them. They could be in danger."

"Uh…" Erika gulped. "How will I get to shore?"

The witch sighed. "Swim?"

"Uh…Do I have to? I don't think I can swim that far…"

"Didn't you do surfing? You should be good then. Plus the sea's calm."

The girl looked worried. "I was good when I was twelve…"

Fairywitch slapped her own forehead with her palm. "Put on a lifejacket, place your duel disk and cards in some kind of plastic bag or inside a sealed flotation device and jump in feet first."

Following Fairywitch's advice, Erika gathered what she needed, made sure everything was secure and sat on the ledge of the ship. She gulped and turned to the duel monster. "Are you sure about this?"

"You'd be better off on the island than being on here," she told the nervous girl. "Trust me, you'll be fine."

Erika nodded. She clutched onto her now waterproof duel disk, took in a deep breath and jumped into the waters below.

Jaden's fingers dug into the grainy sand as he stirred from his unconsciousness. He sat up and faced the deep ocean, unknowing to where exactly he was and how he got there. Damp clothes covered his body but he was bewildered to how they got saturated in the first place. He looked around and saw his best friend lying on his side in the sand.

"Syrus!" Jaden yelled as he made a dash towards his friend. He crouched down beside him and shook him frantically. "Wake up buddy."

The small boy stirred out of his slumber. "J-Jay…. Is that you?"

Jaden gave a sigh in relief. "Oh I'm glad you're okay man, I was worried about you. Hey, check out where we are."

Syrus sat up and took his glasses off, rubbing the lenses before putting them back on. He gave a small gasp and instantly got to his feet. "Where are we?"

"I dunno," Jaden shrugged. "I just woke up."

"How did we get here? Where's the boat? Where are all the others? What if we're here all by ourselves? Or what if we're not? What if there are wild animals lurking in the bushes waiting to eat us?"

"Oh Sy, don't worry! We'll have a look around for the ship. Maybe that will reveal how we got here. The others will be there I'm sure of it!" Jaden positively replied. "Besides, if any animals are hiding, be my guest – I'm starving!"

Syrus gave a heavy sigh and decided not to doubt his friend. Jaden was doing his best to stay hopeful. He knew if anyone could help in this situation, it would be Jaden.

"Bleugh! I feel like a wet dog!" Erika complained out loud to herself as she crawled out of the water. Her legs felt so sore and all she wanted to do was drop onto the beach and remain there for the rest of the day.

The sand glistened like gold as she stumbled out of the surf and onto the beach. She fell to her knees and fell face forward. She dug her fingers into the sand and hugged the comfortable turf. With a soft smile on her face, she gently rested her eyes and slowly fell into a slumber.

"Wake up!" A voice yelled.

Erika let out a scream and instantly sat up. She saw the spirit of Fairywitch floating beside her. "Wha…? What was that for?"

Before the monster could reply, she gave a gasp and suddenly vanishes as if she was being sucked into the island.

"Fairywitch?" Erika asked, unsure where the monster went off to. She hit the sand and gave another sigh. "Now what?"

Erika faced the deep tropical bush. She had no idea what to do, her clothes were wet and she was cold. If anyone from the ship could survive on a remote island it definitely wouldn't be Erika. This reminded her of the days where her mother watched a reality TV show about a group of people having to survive out in the wilderness for thirty-something days. It went on for twenty or so seasons but it always seemed like a thousand or more. Regretting never watching an episode, Erika knew that if she ever made it out of this situation she'd actually watch it. She took another sigh and lay on the sand facing the cloudless sky as the sun kissed her now closed eye lids.

Higher into the sky the sun rose as the heat began to pound upon Jaden and Syrus. Their footsteps treaded slower along the shoreline. Jaden wiped his brow and gave a heavy sigh.

"Man, this is hot weather, Sy. This place is like paradise." Jaden's stomach gave a loud gurgle. "But I'm so hungry! I could do with a bag of Cheetos."

"We'll keep walking Jay. I hope we find that ship soon," Syrus said looking towards the dense jungle-like bush. "Before something eats us."

Jaden let out a laugh. "You worry too much! Nothing's gonna eat us." A small noise caught Jaden's attention. He stopped in his tracks and looked by his side. There appeared Winged Kurriboh, his duel monster spirit. "Winged Kurriboh…? What's wrong?"

The monster gave a small cry and pointed him in the distance they were heading in.

"Are we heading in the right direction?"

The small ball of fur gave a happy nod and flapped its wings. Winged Kurriboh's eyes then grew wide in fright as it frantically tried to fly up to Jaden. The little monster wasn't strong enough as it vanished and was sucked into the island.

Jaden gasped and ran towards the thick scrub, looking into the direction his friend vanished into.

"Jay, what are you doing?" Syrus ran to his friend and pulled him back on track. "The ship's around the corner out at sea."

Jaden turned to his friend and back towards the bush. _"I will find you Winged Kurriboh, I promise as soon as I find my friends."_

Both boys ran around the bend and gazed out towards the ship. It looked close but they could tell it was further than it looked.

"Guess you won't be getting your Cheetos, Jaden…"

The brown haired boy was more focused on his duel spirit than his stomach now. It was unlike Winged Kurriboh to disappear like that. Jaden looked towards the bush again as his eyes wandered into the island. "No one's here either." His eyes traced along the shoreline. They fixed upon something unusual.

"What's that?" Syrus pointed out, his eyes looking at the same thing. He gasped "is that a body?"

He and Jaden ran towards the body. They both gasped.

Syrus looked upon the body. He began to panic. "I-Is she d-d-dead?"

Jaden knelt beside her and felt her wrist trying to check for a pulse. "She's really cold. Now if I could remember…" He put his fingers on her wrist. "I can't even feel a pulse." He shook her body. "Hey, are you alive?"

"Oh no! Please no!" Syrus began to panic more than before. "Can you save her?"

"I dunno," Jaden sighed. "I've watched things on TV but I've never done them."

"B-b-b-but we can't leave her like this…"

Jaden nodded. "I know… I'll give it a go." He gave a sigh.

Erika stirred half asleep. As she began to wake up she felt something on her lips, breathing into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she went to sit up.

"You saved her, Jay!" A boy cried.

"W-Wha….!" Erika's eyes lay upon Syrus who appeared to be relieved. They then flickered to another boy sitting beside her. She became panicked and her eyes were fixed on him. "What in the world were you doing?"

Jaden looked at the girl confused. "Didn't I just save you or something?"

Her eyes were wide. "Save me..? What are you talking about?"

"You were dead."

"I was dead?"

"Well you weren't responding to my shaking and you had no pulse," he told the clueless girl, "so I gave you mouth-to-mouth to save your life."

Erika's eyes became really wide. She felt dizzy. Her voice grew quiet. "I-I must've fallen asleep…"

Jaden ran a hand through his hair and gave her a cheesy grin. "Well I guess I didn't save your life after all then."

"H-How did you check my pulse?" The now quiet Erika asked.

"Oh I just felt your wrist with my fingers and there was no beat."

Erika gave a sigh and clenched her fist tightly. "H-Here, I'll show you." She took his hand and placed it below her wrist on the thumb side by the vein. "Feel that?"

Jaden gasped. "I can feel it now… You're hearts beating really fast."

She dropped his hand and looked away. "Y-You gave me a fright."

"We were worried that you were dead," Syrus said. "You were just lying there…"

Erika took a breath in and looked at the boys, feeling rather embarrassed about the situation. "Thanks for caring about me guys. I'm sorry."

"No problem," Jaden said with a cheeky grin. "Do you happen to know where everyone else is?"

"No," Erika shook her head. "I was on the ship and I swam here. The next minute I wake up and…" Her face went a little pink.

"Alexis, Zane, Atticus, Chazz, Jake and Professor Banner… Are they all on the island?" Syrus asked.

"Must be," Jaden replied. "We have to find them."


End file.
